when apple was close to bankcrupt, m$ bought its debt and thus shored up its
balancesheet.
nokia still has 6b euro in cash on its balancesheet. at today's burn rate,
the firm can last about 8 quarters (assuming dividend cut). if the company
takes on debt, it will last even longer. at this point, m$ can potentially
step in again and acquire its partner's debt at lower rate level than that
corresponding to nokia's debt rating.
i think it is still early to say if nokia's decision not to go with android
is a good or bad one. google acquired motorola and android also faced law
suits left and right. so nokia had its concerns.
the partnership with m$ is not only about phones. win 8 is on the horizon. i
'd bet that nokia gets special treatment with developing win 8 devices -
phones, tablets, or whatever. nokia will get none of these benefits should
it go with android.
i can see that elop's vision is not short-term and nokia's balancesheet
allows him to make that bet.
if nokia succeeds, this will be haled in a harvard case study as one of the
greatest turnaround stories next to ibm's or apple's.
if nokia fails, it will be taught in a harvard case study as one of the
greatest business failures next to eastman kodak.