This week, Nokia announced that it would lay off 10,000 workers and reduced its profit forecast, causing the Finnish cellphone maker's share price to sink 18 percent. Nokia continues to get crushed by Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market, having failed to make an impact with its Lumia phone, which runs on Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. Analysts don't hold out much hope for Nokia, with some saying it has only six months to supercharge its smartphone sales — or die. That poses a big problem for software giant Microsoft, which badly wants to be a smartphone player, but relies on Nokia to make the actual phones. Should Microsoft just acquire Nokia?
Microsoft might not have a choice: Microsoft "could be forced to rescue" Nokia if the phone maker can't get its act together, says Juliette Garside at Britain's The Guardian. Nokia, whose prospects are entwined with Microsoft's, is the "only company attempting to sell significant numbers" of Windows Phones, so allowing it to go under would seriously damage Microsoft's attempts to carve out a space in the booming market for smartphones and tablets.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
