Nokia to sell mobile phone unit to Microsoft

Beleaguered Finnish company Nokia announced Tuesday the sale of its mobile phone unit to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros ($7.17 billion), bringing to an end its days as a phone maker.

Nokia will grant the US software giant a 10-year non-exclusive licence to its patents and will itself focus on network infrastructure and services, which it called "the best path forward for Nokia and its shareholders."

The company also announced the immediate departure of chief executive Stephen Elop, who was hired from Microsoft in 2010 to turn the company around.

He will be replaced in the interim by Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia's chairman of the board.

Nokia dominated the mobile phone market for 14 years, until it was overtaken by Samsung in 2012 as the top-selling brand, as it struggled to establish winning business models and mobile devices.