Today, Nokia has announced that the sale of its devices and services business has been delayed until April of 2014. While this isn"t far off from Nokia"s previously announced estimate, it still doesn"t solidify a concrete closing date. The transaction has received regulatory approvals from the European commission and the United States Department of Justice but is still pending approval by antitrust authorities in Asia. Nokia has made it clear that the tax proceedings in India are not the cause of the delay.
Since its announcement in September 2013, Nokia has continued with business as usual releasing the Lumia 525 and Lumia Icon. They also announced and have since released their first Android handsets earlier this month, the Nokia X, X+, and XL. Nokia is also rumored to be announcing two new handsets (Lumia 930 and Lumia 630) at the upcoming Microsoft Build Developer Conference in San Francisco which takes place between April 2 - 4th.
While it"s uncertain whether the authorities in Asia will approve the deal, Nokia and Microsoft remain confident that the transaction will be approved shortly.
Source: Nokia | Image via Nokia