Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

This is what a $7.2 billion smartphone looks like

Published Dec 24th, 2013 11:45AM EST
Nokia Android Phone Photos

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

It might not look like much, but the colorful low-end handset pictured above (via @evleaks) is the most valuable smartphone on the planet. Code-named “Normandy,” the tiny unreleased phone was to be the first Nokia device powered by Google’s Android operating system. But it’s also so much more — it’s a $7.2 billion smartphone. As we have discussed before, various chatter suggests that Nokia likely created this handset with the primary intention of forcing Microsoft’s hand. During ongoing negotiations between the two companies, Nokia not only needed a way to move the acquisition of its smartphone division along, but also to ensure that Microsoft acquired the company’s waning feature phone business as well. And what better way to guarantee all of the above than to threaten Nokia with embracing the Android platform?

Did it work? Nokia’s shaky devices business will soon be in Microsoft’s hands in exchange for about $5 billion, and Microsoft will license Nokia’s patents for 10 years for another $2.2 billion. Mission accomplished, we’d say.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.