Chime in: Was Nokia's phone business doomed without Microsoft's buyout?
In 2014, Microsoft purchased Nokia's phone division for $7.2 billion dollars. Four years on, how do you feel about the results (or lackthereof)?
Back in 2014, Microsoft picked up Nokia's entire phone business for $7.2 billion dollars. The future for Windows Phone seemed optimistic, Lumia handsets were selling well in some markets, in some cases, even beating iPhone, but the entire venture was eventually written off as a failure just a few years latere. Lumia is rapidly becoming a memory, as Windows 10 Mobile as we know it approaches the end of its life.
Four years since the buyout, we're wondering how you feel about it.
Forum user Amits1024 wonders if Nokia made a mistake selling its phone business to Microsoft, considering they were steadily growing in 2013 on the back of cheap handsets in developing markets, as well as the widespread proliferation of aggressively cheap Lumia smartphones, like the Lumia 520.
Despite the brand recognition and unit sales, Nokia was haemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate, and relied entirely on Microsoft to stay afloat. Nokia might have seen further growth while separated from Redmond, but it's hard to say whether Microsoft would have been willing to continue ploughing money into Nokia on the off-chance of Lumia ever achieving wider market penetration.
How do you feel? Jump in the forum thread above and let us know.
Windows 10 Mobile is steadily approaching the end of its support period, but you can still grab a Windows-based smartphone if you're curious (or a masochist). The best Windows phone out there is still a Lumia, after all, built by the stellar, criminally underrated hardware team at Nokia.
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Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!