Microsoft closes Nokia deal Friday

Microsoft will finally close its acquisition of Nokia's handset division, ending a seven-month wait to take forward its "mobile first cloud first" strategy. Nokia said Friday that the deal, which will see 30,000 employees transferring to Redmond, Wash. was slightly more onerous than the $7.5 billion announced in September. Microsoft will get Nokia's design team, most of its manufacturing and assembly facilities, operations and its sales and marketing support. The deal makes Microsoft the second largest manufacturer of phones, with a 14 percent market share and second only to Samsung, according to technology research firm IDC. But when it comes to smartphones, Microsoft still lags behind Apple and Samsung, who account for 96 percent of the 290 million smartphones shipped in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to IDC. Microsoft's Windows Phone came in with only three percent of the market. "The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a statement. Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will now serve as the president of Microsoft's Devices Group, reporting directly to Nadella. The Devices division oversees the Lumia range of phones, Xbox consoles and Surface tablets. "As Microsoft and Nokia Devices and Services come together as an expanded family, we will unify our passion, dedication and commitment to bringing you the best of what our joint technologies have to offer," said Elop. The deal was initially expected to close at the end of the first quarter but regulatory approvals from "final markets" in Asia delayed the process. The U.S. Justice Department gave its stamp of approval, even before the E.U. cleared the deal, concluding that the transaction "would not raise any competition concerns."