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.

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amits1024

This was the list of best selling phone brands in 2013 - Samsung: 444.4442 million (24.6% market share) Nokia: 250.7931 million (13.9% market share) Apple: 150.7859 million (8.3% market share) LG: 69.0245 million (3.8% market share) ZTE: 59.8988 million (3.3% market share) Huawei: 53.2951 million (2.9% market share) TCL Communication: 49.5313 million (2.7% market share) Lenovo: 45.2847...

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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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