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US: Microsoft is stepping back from the smartphone business

By  |  July 8, 2015

Microsoft is backing down from its attempt to become a major smartphone maker, saying today that it is moving away from efforts to build “a standalone phone business.”

The company will cut about 7,800 jobs globally as it trims its smartphone ambitions, and will write down the value of its phone business, which it acquired from Nokia in a $9.4 billion deal last year, by $7.6 billion. “Based on the new plans, the future prospects for the Phone Hardware segment are below original expectations,” it said.

The company will also take a restructuring charge of $750 million to $850 million, according to a press release.

“We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem,” wrote Satya Nadella, who was named Microsoft’s CEO in February 2014, in an email to employees.

Full content: SD Times

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