The Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NOK) Era Comes to an End, and What This Means for Your Money

The strategy of controlling both the hardware and software sides of the product has successfully been employed in the past by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Combined with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android platform, Apple’s iOS system control 90% of the global smartphone market, posing stiff competition for Microsoft’s Windows platform.

What this means for your money
For Nokia investors, this marks the end of a long-standing era. Going forward, Nokia will no longer be a global superpower in the mobile industry. While its hardware segment may be revived by Microsoft, investors in Nokia will not benefit, and are left with a relatively small and insignificant networking and navigation company. Juha Varis, Danske Capital’s senior portfolio manager, put it simply, “So this is the outcome: The whole business for 5 billion euros.”

For Microsoft investors, this deal quadruples the company’s exposure to the Window’s Phone segment, making Microsoft’s intent to develop as a mobile-centric company even clearer. As a result of this deal, Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop, is rumored to be a top candidate as a replacement for the outgoing Steve Ballmer.

Will Microsoft gain a strong hold on the global smartphone industry? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing I am fairly sure of is that the continued efforts of Microsoft to sprout into the mobile industry will eventually yield results.

How about the effect on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)? Since Window’s Phone platform is likely to remain a very distant third to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS and Google’s Android, these two companies are unlikely to be majorly affected. For BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), the story is the much of the same. Nothing about this deal is likely to drastically affect current conditions for BlackBerry. In the end, the Nokia Lumia product will still be the same, and consumers are not likely to feel any differently about it than they did a month ago.

The article The Nokia Era Comes to an End, and What This Means for Your Money originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Ryan Guenette.

Ryan Guenette owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

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