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Ova vest mi izgleda kao tacna, imao sam nekih informacija. Evo nesto sa neta.
Cisco mulls acquiring Nokia, report says
By John Blau, IDG News Service, 08/08/05
Internet equipment maker Cisco is interested in acquiring Nokia, the world largest manufacturer of mobile phones, according to several media reports citing the Sunday Business newspaper.
A Nokia spokeswoman Monday declined to comment on the report, which cited unnamed sources.
Cisco spokesman David Cook, while also declining to comment, noted that buying a big company such as Nokia - which is valued at more than €70 billion ($87 billion) - would represent a major shift in the U.S. company's acquisition strategy.
"Of the 103 acquisitions we've made over the past 20 years, almost all of these have been small, technology-rich companies," Cook said. The San Jose manufacturer has a history of buying niche companies with specific engineering skills, such as home networking and security, he added.
Still, some analysts wouldn't be surprised if Cisco bought a wireless player.
"Cisco is always looking to expand its portfolio and wireless is a big growth area," said Mark Blowers, senior research analyst at the London office of the Butler Group, a consulting company.
Moreover, convergence of fixed and mobile networks has become a big topic in the telecommunications market and one that could prompt Cisco to seek wireless expertise, according to Blower. "Cisco has a strong fixed-network background, as Nokia does in mobile," he said. "Cisco could expand on its own into this market but wireless is a complex area. A partner would certainly help."
Nokia, which has seen its profit margins erode due to intense competition from manufacturers of low-cost handsets, is accelerating efforts to capture market share in large developing markets such as China and India.
Other analysts say the deal is unlikely.
"We view such a deal as inconsistent with Cisco's acquisition history and strategy going forward - preferring smaller, niche technology purchases with revenue growth rates above Cisco's current 10% to 15% level," states UBS Warburg Analyst Nikos Theodosopoulos in a bulletin on the rumor.
"We believe it would hinder Cisco's ability to achieve its 10% to15% revenue growth target."
UBS forecasts 8% year-over-year sales growth for Nokia in 2006, with 4% year-ver-year growth in wireless infrastructure.
UBS notes that a Cisco/Nokia deal has been specualted in the past.
"Cisco/Nokia talks have been speculated before but have only produced a small enterprise VoIP solutions partnership," Theodosopoulos states in his bulletin.
"Charlie Giancarlo, the new Chief Development Officer of Cisco, may prefer a bolder M&A strategy given his new role and the Linksys deal he led. Even so, we believe he would not push for a deal with Nokia."
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080805-cisco-nokia.html
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