That is some serious research on someone's part. Congratulations on posting it here.
I'd actually forgotten most of those tie-ups. Why? Because they're all forgettable - for all but those who's companies got destroyed in the process. They clearly made no significant waves.
My own contention is that an allegiance with Microsoft is a bad deal, even without their past history in this area, purely on the basis that they don't really understand the market. They're box pushers... and mostly software in a box. Their more recent forays into the gaming market have had distinctly mixed results. And why games? It's hardly the smart end of the tech business.
But when you look at this record, it's clear that they either don't pick healthy partners capable of surviving a commercial intercourse with them, or they set out with the intention of killing these companies - as has been suggested many times before.
Whatever is the case, and it really doesn't matter which it is, Nokia have just committed suicide. And as Apple's stock continues to nudge ever upwards towards $360, with a Market CAP of $330,904.63M, MS are down again a full 6% on their highest value this year so far, with a Market CAP of 228,796.86M.
And what of Nokia? They closed on Thursday 10th February at $11.73. When the deal was announced on Friday, the price began to fall to today's close at $8.84 following massive selling. That's a HUGE 24.6% drop! What's even more alarming about this is that Elop's candid, yet apocalyptic "burning platform" memo of Tuesday 8th February had absolutely no negative effects on the stock price - indeed it rose slightly the following day, only to crash after he shook hands with his old boss - Ballmer!
What was it Grady Seasons said to Vincent? “It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? It just keeps getting worse and worse.”
Once again, I say watch this space. Both these companies will fail within the next 5-10 years. One much sooner than the other.
