Nokia’s long and storied history took an interesting turn earlier this month when the company announced that it plans to sell its devices and services businesses to Microsoft as part of a $7.2 billion deal. Of course Nokia didn’t get its start in the mobile sector, but the company helped shape the industry as we know it today and its exit from the phone business is a huge deal. As for where Nokia goes from here, chairman and interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa shared some thoughts in a recent post on Nokia’s blog.
“Nokia will look very different without the mobile devices and services business. But it will be a strong company, with healthy finances and three strong businesses – NSN, HERE, and Advanced Technologies – each a leader in technology and innovation,” Siilasmaa said.
Nokia’s network infrastructure business will continue to launch “uniquely innovative solutions” according to the executive, and its location services arm creates mapping solutions that are “already available in 4 out of 5 cars with in-dash navigation.”
Siilasmaa continued, “Finally, we will form a new business, Advanced Technologies, building on most of the activities from the current CTO unit and the IP business team, while exploring new, strategically important topics. Our CTO organization has a strong track record in innovations that continue to shape the industry. In recent years, these have included the leading technologies for video and audio encoding, including H.264 and HD voice; low-power connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth LE (low energy) and imaging technologies which are now powering augmented reality apps such as HERE Live Sight.”
Nokia will also retain ownership of its extensive patent portfolio, which will already generate $2.2 billion over the next 10 years as part of the Microsoft deal.
