Not content with its close partnership with Nokia, Microsoft announced late Monday that it has agreed to purchase the Devices and Services division of Nokia for a little over $7 billion. If the deal closes as expected in the first quarter of next year, Microsoft will own one of the world’s most storied smartphone operations, albeit one that has fallen quite a bit over the last ten years as the smartphone market has evolved.
The deal would create a combined organization that Microsoft hopes will rival Apple and Google, the smartphone leaders of the world, and accelerate Microsoft’s transition from a software giant to a hardware maker in its own right.
Here’s our coverage so far:
- It happened: Microsoft to buy Nokia’s devices division for $7.17 billion
- Why I think the $7.2 billion Microsoft-Nokia deal is a terrible idea
- Free of its hardware biz, Nokia is now a serious Google rival in location
- Microsoft’s Finnish data center plans, and other tidbits from the Nokia takeover call
- Let’s get real: Nobody will license Windows Phone or Windows RT now</li>
- Trouble already? ValueAct not consulted on Microsoft-Nokia deal
- Nokiasoft is here after three years in the making. Why now?
- Stay tuned for more Microsoft boardroom drama

{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2013\/09\/03\/with-nokia-microsoft-finally-ready-to-become-a-hardware-company-roundup\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_b15fd4fe50a20e94ebf6950c3eb369d1","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}