Three Things Microsoft Might Announce on Monday

Microsoft MSFT is gearing up for a major event on Monday. From acquisitions and tablet talk to Xbox branding and Windows Phone rumors, there are a lot of things that the Windows maker could announce next week. Let's dissect three of them. Nokia Finds a New Owner Next to Apple AAPL and Samsung, few smartphone manufacturers get their name in the news as frequently as Nokia NOK. But while Apple and Samsung often make headlines for their product announcements, Nokia is more likely to be in the press for something negative, such as job cuts or analyst downgrades. Many have speculated that Nokia's luck could change next week. But is Microsoft ready to pull a Google and acquire a tech manufacturing company? "My initial reaction was that, if I were Microsoft, I'd be disappointed that I had to bail out Nokia," Mike Snyder, President of Sonoma Partners, told Benzinga. Sonoma Partners is Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner that provides customization and integration solutions. "[I'd be disappointed] that Nokia could not be successful [on its own]. It's not a good sign that they [may have] to bail them out." Trip Chowdhry, the Managing Director of Equity Research at Global Equities Research, doesn't think that Microsoft is "so disoriented that they will buy struggling companies." "Microsoft itself is a struggling company," Chowdhry told Benzinga. "You never grow yourself by buying a company which is on the downhill." Brett Golden, the president and co-founder of The Chart Lab and Chart Lab Pro, concurs with their assessment, saying that he thinks there is "zero chance" that Microsoft will acquire Nokia. Microsoft Yammers Out the Details Even if the chances of Microsoft acquiring Nokia are, in fact, "zero," that does not mean that the Windows maker is not ready to make an acquisition. Earlier this week, Yammer, an enterprise social network company, became the talk of the town when rumors spread that Microsoft wanted to acquire the firm. Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the deal is all but complete. While Snyder could not confirm the accuracy of these rumors, he said that he would be very excited to see what Microsoft could do with Yammer. "Microsoft has been building out their own social features within the Dynamics CRM product," he said. "It's been going well, but their feature set is nowhere close to what Yammer offers from a social networking capabilities. For one, Yammer has a lot of really strong multi-device capabilities for mobile. There's BlackBerry clients, Android clients, things like that. Is Microsoft going in that direction? Yammer has been there, done that. The products are out there." "I'd be excited, first and foremost, because there'd be a ton of new features that I hope would be integrated into the CRM product," Snyder added. "My assumption is that the CRM team would, in time, stop building their own social features and find a way to leverage Yammer. It will take time for that to happen, of course. But Microsoft wouldn't have to spend time reinventing the wheel." Chowdhry, on the other hand, wonders if Microsoft is truly prepared for this acquisition. "Regarding Yammer, the question is -- does MS have a strategy in place?" Chowdhry questioned. "No. The social computing environment is no different from the mobile environment. There are only two winners, and then the leftovers. Just like in mobile, 90%+ of the market is between Apple and Google GOOG. Similarly, in the social computing and social relationship management space, there are only two winners -- Salesforce.com CRM and Oracle ORCL. There's no spot left for Microsoft. Microsoft is too late." Chowdhry was particularly upset with the notion that Microsoft would spend $1.2 billion to acquire Yammer, as reported in the aforementioned Wall Street Journal report. "They could….easily put that money in the trash can. It's not going to change anything." It's Tablet Time The big rumor -- and presumed announcement -- is that Microsoft will announce a brand-new tablet on Monday, one that will come under the company's own brand. As exciting as that may be, many critics doubt that Microsoft can launch a successful product. "[It will] probably end up being a disaster," said Golden. "I don't think anyone's buying their phones. Every time they try to get in the hardware game, I don't think it is ever successful." But there is one exception: Xbox 360. "That has probably been their greatest success," Golden admitted. "[But] look at Zune. That thing was a complete disaster." "I just think that Microsoft is a stale company that needs fresh blood," Golden added. "I feel they're running scared, and they always enter the market with an inferior product. They're always gonna chase Apple. I just don't think they ever get it right." Chowdhry agrees that Microsoft is likely to unveil a tablet, but he isn't quite as skeptical. "The timing is almost right for Microsoft," said Chowdhry, noting that the company's announcement would come one week after Apple unveiled the next-gen MacBook Pro and one week before Google is slated to show its first tablet (as well as a new Chromebook). "Think about it: start of June, a lot of noise from Apple," said Chowdhry. "End of June, there will be a lot of noise from Google. If Microsoft doesn't make any noise, they will be considered irrelevant. I think from a timing perspective, this is a smart strategy." Chowdhry expects the tablet to be about the same size as the iPad and retail for roughly the same price. "Maybe $50 cheaper than that," he said. With regard to how the tablet will be branded, Chowdhry said that he doesn't think it will have any association with Xbox "because Xbox is yesterday's story." "Will that be a smart move to brand tablets with Xbox?" Chowdhry questioned. "I don't think this will be a smart move, but Microsoft has a history of making bad moves. If they do that, that would definitely be bad." Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ