Microsoft doesn't care if Nokia survives
I would
be very surprised if Balmer survives a Nokia debacle. Balmer's strategy for the
future was based on Nokia being successful. If Nokia goes under, the press will
have a feeding frenzy saying it was Microsoft's fault. The fact that the Lumia
phones supposedly got good reviews will only make things worse, as it simply
means that Nokia put out good hardware, but they still didn't sell.
If
Balmer's head rolls, his replacement would have a hard time continuing with the
same failed strategy. It would be a good opportunity to dump all the money
losing ventures into consumer markets, web portals, search/advertising, and
phones and tablets. Microsoft could sell or close multiple divisions and lay off
thousands of employees, and investors would be delighted.
So, Balmer
has a lot at stake here. However, Microsoft's own investors might actually
benefit more from a complete Nokia failure than they would from the current
drizzle of mediocrity.
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