Which Fading Smartphone Company Is More Valuable To Microsoft, RIM Or Nokia?

colinneagle writes "Nokia and RIM, the two former leaders in the early smartphone market, are now basically at the end stage of their downward spirals. This is an opportunity for Microsoft, which wants to make some inroads in the smartphone market, assuming Microsoft it can play its cards right. The question is which firm is worth more. Both have their values, especially in the patent areas. In terms of just smartphones, Microsoft would probably gain more from RIM, because it could integrate BlackBerry Enterprise Server into its own server products. Nokia, though, is a much older player and probably has a lot more of a patent portfolio. The question then becomes which is an easier purchase. Nokia is a 150-year-old storied company. The Finns may not be too keen to let it go to an American firm. There is the distinct possibility Microsoft acquires both firms and keeps the best of both worlds for hardware. But where does that leave OEM partners like LG, HTC and ZTE?"

Comments

Easy - RIM

[nurb432]

This is because RIM is 'corporate' orientated, so its a natural for Microsoft. Nokia, is consumer oriented ( Apple's territory )

But, considering all their handset technology is different, would it be wroth the trouble/money just to get the BES, that wont work with a windows phone anyway?

More likely they will both just fade away and someone like Google will grab the patents just before they go under water forever.

Re:Easy - RIM

[jo_ham]

You are a sick, foul, disgusting subhuman piece of filth who is paid to lie, slander, and befoul a medium which was designed to be open and free of corporate mouthpieces like yourself. You are a hideous nonhuman. We didn't create the Internet for you to spew your sick, depraved corporate hatespeak. GTFO now.

Goodness me, such vehemence! Clearly something is chafing. I'd address your supposed discussion points, but given that the highest level of intelligence you seem to possess results in the above paragraph, I'm not sure you'd understand them. Come back when you've grown up, son.

You still forgot to log in, or is that a symptom of mashing at the submit button with such frothing rage that someone is wrong on the internet that you need to rush to attack them and thus forget basic things like how to use a discussion board.

Also amusing on "having facts to hand" and "who cares outside of China". I assume you haven't heard of this cool new thing. It's called "Google". You can type things into it and it returns a list of relevant URLs (also called "links" or "website addresses") that you can follow. You can find almost anything really quickly and easily! Maybe you should try it sometime. The website address is http://www.google.com./ Type that into the address bar at the top of your browser window. You don't have to type the http:/// part if you don't want to. Type what you want to find in the search box that comes up and then you too can have facts "close at hand". Well, assuming that your parents haven't blocked Google on your computer. You might have to ask them if it's ok to go there.

MS/Nokia

[Anonymous Coward]

MS already owns Nokia

Partnering with Microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

"But where does that leave OEM partners like LG, HTC and ZTE?"

The same place where every Microsoft partner ends up.

Nokia

[CockMonster]

I worked for Nokia when the MS alliance was announced. Elop is ex-MS, he brought in some higher management from MS. The company is already drinking the MS kool-aid internally, the takeover is complete in every way except financially. Nokia shareholders would not object to getting the company out of Finland, it's expensive to hire people there and expensive to fire them. Fortunately for MS a whole lot have already been fired.

Re:neither

[gadget junkie]

I dont see MS benefiting for buying either. MS has gotten what it needs from its deal with Nokia. If WP doesnt do well under Nokia, RIM isnt going to help.

I do not think that MS has got what it needed; it got what it wanted, and given MS track record in corporate deals, the two are such distant relations that under Catholic law they could marry without dispensation.
AFAIK, Ballmer wanted to jumpstart MS's phone business, and with this deal he will have some numbers tucked in; but the best comparison is with the deals mobile operators do with Apple: if there's money, it trickles Apple's way, not to the operator's coffers. Then again, in the mobile space MS lacks the factors that make it dominant on the desktop:

1. huge installed base;
2.a teeming ecosystem of programs that won't work on other platform;
3. a HUGE corporate market using his program/services exclusively.

I am not in Bill Gates' confidence, but given the above, I'd have gone for RIM everytime; it's already in the corporate space as a service, while nokia is there as a product, and as an indifferentiated product at that, just like any other phone, and having had an HTC and a Samsung, I must say that the competition is fierce; the only thing Nokia could have going for it is backward compatibility, which they just sold down the river for a neat billion bucks; my personal bet is that they will go back to producing toilet paper and car tires, maybe with a chapter 11 in between.... unless Ballmer decides to throw bad money after the bad.