Microsoft to buy Nokia's mobile phone unit

LONDON. September 3. KAZINFORM Microsoft has agreed a deal to buy Nokia's mobile phone business for 5.4bn euros ($7.2bn; £4.6bn).
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Nokia will also license its patents and mapping services to Microsoft.

The companies said that the deal would be finalised in early 2014, when about 32,000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft.

While Nokia has struggled against competition from Samsung and Apple, Microsoft has been criticised for being slow into the mobile market.

"It's a bold step into the future - a win-win for employees, shareholders and consumers of both companies," Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, said in a statement .

The transaction is subject to approval by Nokia shareholders and regulators.

Microsoft, one of the biggest names in the technology sector, has struggled as consumers have shunned traditional PCs and laptops in favour of smartphones and tablet PCs.

Critics say the firm has been too slow to respond to the booming market for mobile devices. It launched its Surface tablet PCs last year, but sales of the devices have been relatively slow.

Analysts said that the company wanted to make sure that it got its strategy right in the mobile phone market.

Full version on BBC

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