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Sale imminent for Nokia?

The sale of Nokia smartphone division to Microsoft could be imminent, if the rumour mill is to be believed.

A number of similar suggestions have circulated on previous occasions but this time there are claims that the chief executives are due to meet in Las Vegas shortly in order to finalise the sale.

If true, Steve Ballmer and Andy Lees from Microsoft will meet with Kai Oistamo and Stephen Elop from Nokia to plan the transfer of the firm's smartphone sector.

There would be much to decide, including a new name under which to run the smartphone division. However, Microsoft would make many of the final decisions, with Mr Elop resigning as the chief executive of Nokia.

In the past, Nokia has been keen to dismiss rumours along these lines and has worked hard to define its tie-up with Microsoft through the Lumia handsets and others as a partnership, not a precursor to a break-up.

Unfortunately for Nokia fans, it looks like this could be set to change in the near future with more power heading Microsoft's way.

A statement from Nokia to SlashGear read: “We’ve put these rumours to rest a long time ago. The focus for Nokia is on executing on our partnership around Windows Phone and growing the ecosystem, and each company has the tools they need to do so.”