Microsoft Closes $7.2 Billion Nokia Purchase

Microsoft closed 0n Friday its $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia’s devices business, a move Microsoft claims will increase the profitability of its Windows smartphones and increase its share in a market dominated by Google, Samsung and Apple.

In its announcement, Microsoft touted a study showing that the company stands to grow the fastest among the leading smartphone operating systems. It also promised the deal would accelerate its share of smartphones in emerging markets.

Microsoft controls a fraction of the global smartphone market — as little as 3%, according to Business Insider.

When Microsoft announced the deal in September, it reported that the company would make around a $40 profit on each smartphone. That’s an increase over the $10 profits it’s making now, as the purchase means Microsoft will no longer have to pay development and marketing costs to Nokia. Reuters reported that the venture would not be fully profitable until fiscal year 2016, citing Microsoft data.

The deal brings full circle a partnership struck in 2011, as Nokia, which began in 1871 as a Finnish wood pulp mill, lost its title as the largest smartphone maker in the world to Apple and Samsung.