TAIPEI -- Microsoft is selling its feature phone business to FIH Mobile, a Hong Kong-listed unit of key iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry and Helsinki-based holding company HMD global Oy for $350 million. The deal will see the return of the Nokia brand to the global mobile phone and tablet markets with the Taiwanese manufacturer licensing the brand for 10 years.
The move by Microsoft reflects the U.S. tech giant's further retrenchment from the smartphone hardware business after its bungled Nokia acquisition. For Hon Hai, or Foxconn Technology Group, the acquisition provides it with new business opportunities at a time when global demand for smartphones, particularly premium ones, is on the wane.
