Samsung Electronics may be considering a purchase of Nokia. The rumor comes from market speculation cited by The Wall Street Journal, though no specific sources were given. Unsurprisingly, both Samsung and Nokia have responded by saying they do not comment on market rumors.
The rumor is questionable because Samsung has seen tremendous growth in the mobile space, whereas Nokia is losing market share very quickly. It's not really clear what value Samsung would see in Nokia, other than maybe patents.
Just a week ago, there was talk that Microsoft would buy the Finnish company. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop ended up having to publicly call the rumor "baseless" in response to constant questions. Four months ago, Nokia announced that it was choosing Microsoft's Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform. Two months ago, Nokia and Microsoft finally signed a definitive agreement regarding their global mobile ecosystem partnership. All that work would have to be scrapped if Microsoft were to buy Nokia.
There will likely be many rumors about a Nokia buyout as financial analysts continue to downgrade the company's stock. They are doing so because of the cellphone maker's market share is quickly deteriorating thanks to competitors Google and Apple. Furthermore, Nokia gave a surprise profit warning last week, saying that its key mobile-handset business might not make a profit in Q2 2011.
At this point it's too early to tell if Nokia will be bought out, but we really don't think it will be anytime soon. That being said, if it is, we doubt Microsoft or Samsung will be the company to do it.