Dallas, Texas 12/24/2013 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been abuzz with something or the other this past one year and it continues to be so. The latest buzz around the company is with reference to The Rockstar Consortium. This consortium is an amalgamation of numerous technology companies, like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and apple. This consortium is planning on selling-off a segment of wireless patents that it has been seeking very aggressively.
The consortium
New has it that Rockstar is in discussions to sell-off Nortel Networks patents, which are mainly related to the wireless technology. This is primarily due to the fact that it has not been able to license them in the manner that it had expected to. Patent holders are able make money by licensing use of various patented technology to many other companies.
The consortium has other members like Ericsson, BlackBerry and Son and had put up a very aggressive battle against Google and in 2011 had bought 6,000 Nortel patents in for $4.5B. These patents cover the technology that is related to wireless 4G, wireless, data networking, Internet, optical, voice and semiconductors. Very recently, Rockstar filed a law suit against Google and numerous other smartphone makers such as HTC and Samsung over these patents.
The Nokia acquisition
Another hot news is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s proposed acquisition of the devices business of Nokia. This seems to be getting a lot of attention for approval by the Chinese authorities. Typically, deals like these are approved by the Ministry of Commerce in China after a 30-day 1st-phase probe. However, at the moment, it is in a 2nd phase investigation. Other countries have already given their approval for the deal and even countries like Europe and the U.S have given the green signal. Here too, patent issues are at the fore. Nokia has adopted a pretty loose patent protection system in China. It had charged just some of the phone makers in the country’s phone makers.
When there is talk of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), there has to be a mention of the Xbox One, the latest gaming console that was launched by the company just a little before the holiday season came in. In the 1st 18 days of its launch, the console sales touched over 2m and its competitor, Sony’s PS4 apparently sold 2.1M units post its launch on 15 November.
Xbox divestiture rumor
But the latest news with regards to the Xbox One is not about the number of units that have been sold. It’s about some rumors that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) might be divesting its franchise for the Xbox One. This will supposedly help it cut its losses and also help it focus on its other business. But, it cannot be refuted that the Xbox One is an important segment of the company’s overall vision.
Currently, the Xbox sales are bunched up with Android Phone royalties, Windows Phone and Skype on the balance sheet and some people are suggesting that divesting the gaming console business might just help the company in becoming leaner and more focused in the future.
