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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.”

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    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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