????微軟即將再次裁減約7800名員工，并支付7.5億-8.5億美元與裁員相關(guān)的重組費(fèi)用，外加上76億美元的資產(chǎn)減計(jì)，以上種種都表明，微軟18個(gè)月前以72億美元收購諾基亞手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)是一項(xiàng)非常愚蠢的舉動(dòng)。

????收購諾基亞收購曾被史蒂夫·鮑爾默視為其心血之作。這位微軟前任首席執(zhí)行官執(zhí)意要重整微軟被蘋果和安卓設(shè)備打壓得喘不過氣來的移動(dòng)業(yè)務(wù)。當(dāng)時(shí)一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)是，通過收購方式進(jìn)入移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域要比從頭打造這一業(yè)務(wù)來得更快，而且或許更節(jié)省成本。

????Forrester Research分析師弗蘭克·吉列特便是這一觀點(diǎn)的擁躉?！皼]人看到Windows手機(jī)，諾基亞讓微軟進(jìn)入了這一硬件領(lǐng)域，為此，微軟也付出了高昂的代價(jià)。我覺得，微軟進(jìn)入這一領(lǐng)域勢在必行，如果要選擇另一種方式，則只有從零開始，但這樣會耗費(fèi)更長的時(shí)間?！?/p>

????微軟的一位前任經(jīng)理（目前是該公司的合作伙伴）指出，諾基亞是鮑爾默與史蒂芬·埃洛普之間的人情交易，后者是微軟前任高管，后成為了諾基亞首席執(zhí)行官，并于收購之后又回到了微軟。他說：“他們真應(yīng)該拍一部電影，而不是做交易。”（因重組需要，埃洛普于兩周前離開了微軟）

????獨(dú)立分析師大衛(wèi)·林?？繁硎荆U爾默收購諾基亞的動(dòng)因在于對谷歌和蘋果的嫉羨，如果微軟好好經(jīng)營的話，也不至于現(xiàn)在這樣，但微軟未能做到這一點(diǎn)。去年，公司宣布計(jì)劃裁員1.8萬名員工，很多都是手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)部門的員工。顯然，事情有點(diǎn)不對勁。

????林希卡姆在郵件中寫道，“如今，微軟將有可能把主要精力放在那些想要更好的管理系統(tǒng)和安全性的用戶上。這將是場硬仗，因?yàn)槠渌謾C(jī)和移動(dòng)操作系統(tǒng)服務(wù)提供商也一直在努力提供管理和安全能力。因此，微軟所做的業(yè)務(wù)有什么區(qū)別嗎？答案是：區(qū)別不大。”

????有些人則認(rèn)為，這一領(lǐng)域還是有機(jī)可尋的。

????這位前任高管表示，“如果微軟擁有硬件和操作系統(tǒng)的所有權(quán)，那么它便可以在非洲和其他新興市場重振旗鼓。這些市場擁有四五十億人口，這一技術(shù)對他們來說還十分陌生。這些人并不需要智能手機(jī)，可以用極具特色的手機(jī)作為切入點(diǎn)。電信公司和其他基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施提供商將因此而賺得盆滿缽盈。微軟也有機(jī)會在其中分一杯羹。至于它將如何運(yùn)作，讓我們拭目以待。”

????因此，與去年一樣，當(dāng)前的問題仍在于：于2014年2月開始執(zhí)掌微軟的首席執(zhí)行官薩蒂亞·納德拉是否能做出其前任未能做出的決斷？他在上月發(fā)布的內(nèi)部備忘錄中提到了諸多艱難抉擇，在目前看來，他似乎有決心而且有能力做出這些抉擇。這對于微軟來說可能是件好事。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：馮豐

????校對：詹妮

????Given that MicrosoftMSFT -0.14% is about to axe another 7,800 employees, take a restructuring charge of $750 million to $850 million related to the layoffs plus a $7.6 billion impairment charge, it’s hard to argue that the $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s phone business 18 months ago was anything but folly.

????The Nokia deal was seen as Steve Ballmer’s baby. The former Microsoft CEO was hell-bent on fixing Microsoft’s mobile business where it was getting buried by AppleAAPL -2.48% and Android devices. It could even be argued that buying its way into mobile was faster and maybe cheaper than building that business organically.

????Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett is in that camp. “Nokia got Microsoft into the hardware business where no one was betting on Windows Phone, but at a steep price. I think they couldn’t afford not to get in that business and the alternative would have been to invent it from scratch which would have taken longer.”

????One former Microsoft manager, who still works with the company as a partner, said Nokia was a “buddy deal between Ballmer and Stephen Elop,” the former Microsoft exec who left to become CEO of Nokia and returned to Microsoft as part of the acquisition. “They should have made a movie, not a deal,” he said. (Elop left Microsoft two weeks ago as part of a reorg.)

????Ballmer was driven to purchase Nokia by Google-GOOG -1.56% and Apple-envy, which might have been fine if the company had executed well, but it didn’t, said David Linthicum, an independent analyst. Last year it was clear that something was awry when the company announced plans to cut 18,000 employees, many from the phone unit.

????“Now, Microsoft will likely focus on users that want enhanced management capabilities and security. That’s going to be a tough course to follow considering that other phone and mobile OS providers have been working hard to provide management and security capabilities as well. So, what does Microsoft do different? Not much,” Linthicum said via email.

????Others think that some lemonade may be squeezed out of this lemon yet.

????“If Microsoft owns the rights to the hardware and the OS they could redeem themselves in Africa and other emerging markets. Those markets have 4 to 5 billion people that have not been touched by tech. They don’t need smart phones. They’ll start with super-feature phones. The telcos and other infrastructure providers are going to make a fortune. Microsoft may have a chance to play here too. We shall see how they play their hand,” said the former exec.

????So, the question is now, as it’s been for the past year: Can CEO Satya Nadella, who took the job in February, 2014, execute where his predecessor did not? So far it looks like he is willing and able to make the tough choices he telegraphed last month in an internal memo. And that’s probably a good thing for Microsoft.