Microsoft might buy Nokia in 2021, predict analysts

Market research company CCS Insights posted their predictions for 2021. In 2021, Microsoft might buy Nokia again.

To be very precise, in 2013 Microsoft didn’t buy Nokia as a whole, but Nokia’s Devices and Services business that was responsible for smartphones and feature phones. With 5G and telco software services on the rise, Nokia is becoming an interesting company for investors and even countries, like the United States of America. The US administration suggested numerous times that Nokia could be a target of acquisition, investment or government help to help the Finns (or Ericsson) in the networks battle with China’s Huawei.

Microsoft lately made some acquisitions in the space of telco software, so CCS Insights predicts that Microsoft is the first candidate to acquire Nokia next year. Other company mentioned in the report was Intel.

First thing I did after reading the title of Forbes‘ report covering the predictions was to look at a calendar and see which year is it. After acquiring Nokia’s D&S division in 2013, Microsoft slowly killed it, letting go the majority of the workforce (that joined Huawei, Xiaomi, Samsung and other vendors, including HMD Global) and never fulfilled, as far as I am aware of, the promise of a datacenter in Finland.

In my opinion, Finland and the EU should fight off every attempt of a non-EU entity trying to gain control over Nokia or Ericsson. Currently the two European companies control half of the network infrastructure market, that proved to be of strategic interest for many countries and if EU wants to be serious global player that wants to counter the USA or China, no foreign acquisition should be allowed.