5 ms·

Nokia in Talks to Buy Alcatel-Lucent

47 points by matthiasb 12y ago

danmaz74 12y ago
Non-paywalled source from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-alcatel-m-a-nokia-idUSKBN0N50H320150414 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-alcatel-m-a-nok...
vmiroshnikov 12y ago
If Microsoft bought Nokia, shouldn't it be "Microsoft in talks to buy Alcatel-Lucent" ?
- otoburb 12y ago
  As per the article, with italic emphases mine: "A year ago, Nokia sold its struggling handset business to Microsoft Corp. This week's media reports were focused on the idea that Nokia may buy Alcatel-Lucent's mobile networks arm, which would be a simpler deal to carry out than a full combination but would leave the French firm much smaller." In short, Nokia sold their iconic and consumer-facing handset division (what they used to call their "Device & Services Business"[1]) to Microsoft in November 2013, although the sale didn't officially complete until April 2014. However, after the divestiture Nokia still existed as a corporate entity with the majority (over 90%) of the revenues coming from their Nokia Solutions and Networks division (NSN) [2]. NSN and ALU's mobile networks division are direct competitors in the telecommunication equipment and software market, so a potential merger makes sense depending on which side of the table you're on. [1] http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/nokia-completes-sale-of-substantially-all-of-its-devices-services-business-to-microsoft http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/n... [2] http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-its-devices-division-microsoft-what-was-once-worlds-biggest http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-i...
  - Spearchucker 12y ago
    It does indeed make sense for Nokia. Specially in the context of them considering selling off Here maps. Seems there's a sentiment at Nokia to focus on their core business to regain shareholder confidence(and hopefully, I suppose, improve the junk status of their stock).
  - digi_owl 12y ago
    And both Nokia and A-L seems to be taking a beating for Huawei.
- glass- 12y ago
  Many people seem to have trouble grasping that Nokia still exists as a separate entity after being "sold" to Microsoft. Think about it like this: IBM made laptops. IBM sold the laptop division to Lenovo. Lenovo now makes laptops using IBM's old brandname (Thinkpad). IBM still exists and is doing other stuff. Ergo, Nokia made phones. Nokia sold the phone division to Microsoft. Microsoft now makes phones using Nokia's old brandnames (Lumia and Asha). Nokia still exists and is doing other stuff.
  - loudmax 12y ago
    Agreed, but people Nokia's handsets were traditionally sold under the Nokia brand name, not Lumia or whatnot. Everybody knew that there was a lot more to IBM than ThinkPads, but most people didn't realize that Nokia had a huge business selling network switching infrastructure to telcos.
  - expando 12y ago
    I think people just didn't realize that nokia wasn't just a company that made phones (I didn't know that until just now at least).
    - vonklaus 12y ago
      Understandable. Similarly Sony is a financial services company , it's core business is insurance.
      - morbius 12y ago
        Basically, conglomerates are very confusing.
snsr 12y ago
Please stop submitting WSJ links.
SixSigma 12y ago
Nokia owning Bell Labs, crazy times
btoptical 12y ago
A better non-paywall source is here: http://www.lightreading.com/business-employment/how-do-nokia-and-alcatel-lucent-stack-up/d/d-id/715048 http://www.lightreading.com/business-employment/how-do-nokia...? Includes discussion of how such a merger would affect Juniper. Juniper is ALU's IP routing partner.

47 points by matthiasb 12y ago

Non-paywalled source from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-alcatel-m-a-nokia-idUSKBN0N50H320150414 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/14/us-alcatel-m-a-nok...

vmiroshnikov 12y ago

If Microsoft bought Nokia, shouldn't it be "Microsoft in talks to buy Alcatel-Lucent" ?

otoburb 12y ago
As per the article, with italic emphases mine: "A year ago, Nokia sold its struggling handset business to Microsoft Corp. This week's media reports were focused on the idea that Nokia may buy Alcatel-Lucent's mobile networks arm, which would be a simpler deal to carry out than a full combination but would leave the French firm much smaller." In short, Nokia sold their iconic and consumer-facing handset division (what they used to call their "Device & Services Business"[1]) to Microsoft in November 2013, although the sale didn't officially complete until April 2014. However, after the divestiture Nokia still existed as a corporate entity with the majority (over 90%) of the revenues coming from their Nokia Solutions and Networks division (NSN) [2]. NSN and ALU's mobile networks division are direct competitors in the telecommunication equipment and software market, so a potential merger makes sense depending on which side of the table you're on. [1] http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/nokia-completes-sale-of-substantially-all-of-its-devices-services-business-to-microsoft http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/n... [2] http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-its-devices-division-microsoft-what-was-once-worlds-biggest http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-i...
- Spearchucker 12y ago
  It does indeed make sense for Nokia. Specially in the context of them considering selling off Here maps. Seems there's a sentiment at Nokia to focus on their core business to regain shareholder confidence(and hopefully, I suppose, improve the junk status of their stock).
- digi_owl 12y ago
  And both Nokia and A-L seems to be taking a beating for Huawei.
glass- 12y ago
Many people seem to have trouble grasping that Nokia still exists as a separate entity after being "sold" to Microsoft. Think about it like this: IBM made laptops. IBM sold the laptop division to Lenovo. Lenovo now makes laptops using IBM's old brandname (Thinkpad). IBM still exists and is doing other stuff. Ergo, Nokia made phones. Nokia sold the phone division to Microsoft. Microsoft now makes phones using Nokia's old brandnames (Lumia and Asha). Nokia still exists and is doing other stuff.
- loudmax 12y ago
  Agreed, but people Nokia's handsets were traditionally sold under the Nokia brand name, not Lumia or whatnot. Everybody knew that there was a lot more to IBM than ThinkPads, but most people didn't realize that Nokia had a huge business selling network switching infrastructure to telcos.
- expando 12y ago
  I think people just didn't realize that nokia wasn't just a company that made phones (I didn't know that until just now at least).
  - vonklaus 12y ago
    Understandable. Similarly Sony is a financial services company , it's core business is insurance.
    - morbius 12y ago
      Basically, conglomerates are very confusing.

snsr 12y ago

Please stop submitting WSJ links.

SixSigma 12y ago

Nokia owning Bell Labs, crazy times

btoptical 12y ago

A better non-paywall source is here: http://www.lightreading.com/business-employment/how-do-nokia-and-alcatel-lucent-stack-up/d/d-id/715048 http://www.lightreading.com/business-employment/how-do-nokia...? Includes discussion of how such a merger would affect Juniper. Juniper is ALU's IP routing partner.