MSFT's 'Hail Mary' Nokia Deal: Too Little, Too Late?

Microsoft had no choice. After years of getting trounced in the mobile market by rival tech titans Apple and Google, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant needed to make a bold move if it wanted to mount a serious smart phone challenge. Microsoft’s $7.2 billion deal to buy Nokia’s mobile phone business and license its patents is certainly an aggressive move — one that signals a new direction for the software giant — but given Apple and Google’s dominance of the smart phone market, Microsoft’s Nokia gambit may be too little, too late.