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Microsoft will acquire Nokia’s Devices and Services business on April 25. In a post on the Microsoft blog on Monday, April 21, 2014, Brad Smith, a Microsoft VP, stated that the steps to finalize the $7.2 billion acquisition have been made and that the transaction will be completed on Friday, April 25, 2014.
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In the post, Smith also stated that the “acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones.” [source]
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This statement reflects the same sentiment from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in earlier talks about the acquisition when Ballmer expressed the hopes that acquiring Nokia would help strengthen their phone offerings at all price points and convert Nokia’s capabilities in hardware, engineering, manufacturing, and distribution into an asset for Microsoft. [source]
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Basically, Microsoft hopes to step up its game plan in the world of hardware and production (especially with the Lumia brand and products) to continue growing the Windows phone in order to better compete with the celebrity players of the smartphone market: Apple and Google.
Sources:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/sep13/09-02announcementpr.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2014/04/21/the-nokia-devices-and-services-acquisition-close-date.aspx
http://gigaom.com/2013/09/03/with-nokia-microsoft-finally-ready-to-become-a-hardware-company-roundup/