acquisition

A new report from CBS Money Watch questions the viability of Microsoft's recent acquisition of Nokia's phone business. The problem: both firms have fallen on tough times of late, meaning consumer confidence in their products is at an all-time low. ... At the same time, there just aren't enough apps available for Windows Phone devices. The devices division of 150-year-old Finnish communications firm Nokia was recently acquired by Microsoft for $7.2 billion. Many experts see the acquisition as an extension of an existing relationship between the two firms. It's a relationship that has involved ... (view more)

Lenovo, the world's second-largest PC manufacturer, is reportedly considering the acquisition of troubled smartphone company Research in Motion (RIM). Reports suggest that the PC maker could use RIM, which produces the popular BlackBerry device, to ... expand its burgeoning smartphone business. Bloomberg notes that Lenovo is currently "assessing potential acquisition targets" and that those targets may include Waterloo, Canada-based RIM. The latter has been in financial trouble for some time, though its stock has rebounded in recent weeks as the firm prepares to launch its highly-anticipated ... (view more)

VirusTotal, a company that produces a free online malware scanner service, says it has been acquired by search giant Google. Google has confirmed the transaction took place, but has not released financial details of the sale. We do know that ... VirusTotal announced the acquisition late last week. The firm's online malware scanner evaluates website addresses (URLs) and also files on your hard drive, to ensure they do not contain viruses, trojan horses, or other forms of malware. VirusTotal says it utilizes more than forty different antivirus strategies to detect potential problems. (Source: pcmag ... (view more)

Online advertising company DoubleClick is looking for a buyer, and many analysts speculate that Microsoft is going to spend the big bucks necessary to acquire the company. In 2005, the private-equity firm Hellman ... (view more)

Unnamed sources have claimed that Treo maker Palm Inc. may be up for sale, and could likely be acquired by one of its rivals. As a result, this may give Apple's iPhone some trouble. Although four companies are said to be interested in the Palm ... purchase, including two private equity groups, the two front-runners of the acquisition are Motorola and Nokia. Such an acquisition could re-shape the cellular phone market. (Source: appleinsider.com ) If Mortorola bought Palm, it would establish itself as the single largest supplier of Windows Mobile devices. This position could lead to an elimination ... (view more)

Now that AMD has purchased graphics-card producer ATI for an impressive $5.4 billion, what are the ramifications for the processing chip market and the tech industry as a whole? In many ways, AMD is trying to break out of its rut by expanding to ... markets previously untouched by it or Intel -- a gamble that might be proceeding at a pace too fast for itself or shareholders. With that in mind, let's take a look at the details of the purchase: The purchase will cost AMD a reported $4.2 billion in cash, with an additional 57 million shares being provided to ATI shareholders. The immediate benefit ... (view more)