Big this week: media stories on which companies AREN’T buying Nokia, even if they’d considered doing so. Earlier in the week, Chinese
handset maker Huawei fuelled rumours that it might make a bid for Nokia before rowing back and saying it wasn’t on the cards. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft recently held “advanced talks” with Nokia over buying its handset business, but claims the discussions “faltered over price and worries about Nokia’s slumping market position, among other issues”. Neither company is commenting directly on the claim, although a Nokia spokesperson tells the WSJ that “We have a deep partnership with Microsoft, and it is not uncommon for Nokia and Microsoft to meet on a regular basis”. Analyst IDC claims Windows Phone took a 3.3% share of smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year, with Nokia accounting for nearly 85% of those shipments, so the two companies’ smartphone futures are currently bound together even without a merger. But with journalists now primed to ask every large mobile-tech company whether it’ll buy Nokia, expect a few more stories in the coming weeks.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…