Microsoft Now Officially Owns Nokia

Almost eight months after the original announcement, Microsoft has now completed its deal to purchase Nokia's devices and services unit. Microsoft no longer dominates just software: from today, it's a hardware specialist, too.

In cold hard numbers, Microsoft is ponying up 3.79 billion for Nokia's phone manufacturing wing, along with a further 1.65 billion to license its portfolio of patents. In total, that's 5.44 billion, or $7.2 billion-which sounds like a pretty good value compared to, say, WhatsApp.

For all that cash, Microsoft will take control of over 90 percent of the Windows Phone market, thanks to Nokia's Lumia range, as well as a scattering of Asha, Android and feature phones. In total, it'll command the supply of somewhere around 200 million handsets a year. No doubt there will be headaches-manufacturing, staff, who knows what-for Microsoft to overcome.

But regardless of strife, from now Microsoft will use the "Microsoft Mobile" name for its Nokia phone business. Welcome to the monopolistic future. [Microsoft]