Samsung cited in Nokia acquisition 'speculation'
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the market is speculating that Samsung could be close to bidding for the purchase of Nokia. Samsung told Dow Jones that it wouldn't comment on that rumor.
Rumors are swirling that Samsung is in the process of compiling an acquisition bid for Nokia, the Dow Jones is reporting.
Though the publication didn't cite its source, it said that "market speculation" suggests Samsung is evaluating an offer for Nokia.
That speculation, the news service says, is born from the financial troubles Nokia is currently enduring. At the end of last month, Nokia lowered its outlook for the second quarter of 2011, as well as the entire year, due to "the competitive dynamics and market trends across multiple price categories." The company said that it expects its second-quarter net sales to be "substantially below" its previously announced range of 6.1 billion euro ($8.9 billion) to 6.6 billion euro ($9.6 billion).
Nokia's outlook is so bad for the rest of the year that it reported to investors that it would no longer "provide annual targets."
That decline also caused Nokia to change tactics earlier this year. In February, the company announced a partnership with Microsoft that would see Windows Phone become the "principal" operating system in its devices. The company currently uses Symbian on its line of mobile products.
Speaking last week at the Qualcomm Uplinq conference in San Diego, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop acknowledged the stiff competition his company faces in the mobile market, and explained why he decided to ink a deal with Microsoft.
"There are already so many companies piling into that space, all doing innovative and interesting things," Elop said, "that it would be hard to stand out amongst them." He told those in attendance that he believed Windows Phone 7 would be a better bet for his company, rather than get lost among many other vendors in the Android ecosystem.
Also last week, rumors cropped up suggesting Microsoft was also considering acquiring Nokia. Elop denied those reports.
For its part, Samsung told Dow Jones that reports suggest that it was looking to acquire Nokia were nothing more than "market rumor," and the company would not comment on that speculation.
Nokia's shares are down $0.28 to $6.26 following today's report.