Morningstarin Microsoft-analyytikon Rodney Nelsonin analyysi Nokia-puhelinten myynnistä:
On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its feature-phone business unit to FIH Mobile for $350 million, which also includes the firm's manufacturing facility in Vietnam. The move will include the transference of roughly 4,500 employees. We are maintaining our wide economic moat rating and $61 fair value estimate for Microsoft, and shares continue to look attractive as the business continues to evolve.
We think Microsoft's decision to continue shuttering business lines around phones is the correct move, though the firm will continue to provide Windows 10 support for high-end smartphone devices in the Lumia family and from other OEMs. While this move may accelerate revenue declines in the phone unit (which were already tracking down roughly 50% year to date), we suspect the feature-phone business operated at a loss, with little opportunity to carve out an enviable competitive position.
While rumors continue to swirl around a potential Surface phone to compete with the likes of Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line, we think this sale is another step in the direction of a complete exit of the handset market. Attractive margins in the handset business reside exclusively at the high end, a market that is effectively served by Apple and Samsung alone, in our view. Satya Nadella has shown a willingness to make tough decisions about the phone unit (including the Nokia writedown), and the company has been mum on any future handset development. We think Microsoft is better served pursuing next-generation form factors where the company has an opportunity to carve out a leadership position, including augmented reality with its HoloLens device. Still, the bulk of our long-term growth and profitability assumptions remain centered on Microsoft's charge into the cloud, buoyed by Office 365, Dynamics, and Azure businesses.
