Nokia Microsoft’s hard sell

 

Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia is testament that the Finnish former giant is facing up to new realities in the handset market. That one of the biggest names in mobile phones should be in such a position is evidence of how Apple and Samsung have comprehensively re-shaped the landscape for mobile phone manufacturers. 

With the Finnish manufacturer’s future apparently secure, it is important to ask why Microsoft would buy a seemingly ailing firm. What’s in it for them and what makes it believe they can make inroads into a mobile market that is increasingly seen as a closed shop between Apple and Samsung.

Microsoft doesn’t see the purchase of Nokia as just buying a handset manufacturer. Given that competition in the mobile space comes from all quarters, handset manufacturers increasingly need to offer more than just a piece of plastic and metal with clever circuitry. Unified comms is the business of the day and in Nokia, Microsoft is laying its hands on an important piece of its strategic jigsaw that will allow it to consolidate and grow. The purchase of Nokia should help Microsoft develop in a number of important areas.


Enterprise:The mothership
     
Microsoft is already a force in computing, servers, cloud, tablets, and software. By adding mobile it can offer a compelling and comprehensive sell into the enterprise space. Handsets were the missing piece of the jigsaw when Microsoft was selling to businesses, mainly offering devices made in partnership with Nokia. By bringing the manufacturer in-house, Microsoft will be able to do even more in the enterprise space.

And they need to. Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia could be seen as a strategic move to stem the attraction of its rivals in general – and Google in particular – getting in on its B2B operation. One of the main reasons BlackBerry collapsed is that Apple and Google stole a march on it, making the enterprise space increasingly competitive over recent years. Microsoft’s position as the B2B market leader is being challenged – for example, our recent study found that while Microsoft is the preferred cloud services vendor for 27% of the SME market, 12% prefer Google. By owning Nokia, Microsoft can now push the Windows OS in the B2B space where it integrates seamlessly with the PC platforms that almost all businesses use.

The first place it can make its presence known is sweeping up BlackBerry customers. This should be relatively straight forward, especially as – unlike the Canadian firm – Microsoft has no server costs to support. YouGov’s smartphone tracker finds that among people who own a work smartphone, presently 58% have BlackBerrys, with Nokia on 12%, so there are rich pickings. Cost arguments may also help in taking on Apple (currently making inroads on 8% of the work smartphone market) given the Windows solution won’t cost businesses as much in contracts and hardware as iPhones.