Nokia to ditch Intellisync corporate e-mail play: Handset maker to refocus on consumer Internet services

Nokia Corp. is pulling the plug on some of its enterprise offerings in an effort to increase its focus on consumer Internet services.
The Finnish company said it will stop developing and marketing its proprietary corporate e-mail service, opting instead to integrate its devices and applications with technology from vendors such as Cisco, IBM and Microsoft Corp. And Nokia said it is in “advanced stages” of negotiations with an unnamed financial investor to sell its security appliances business, which offers products such as firewalls and virtual private networks.
“If this transaction is conclude, it would be an extremely positive development for the security appliance business, which will be able to realize its full potential under new ownership,” Niklas Savander, EVP of services and software, said in a prepared statement. “The investor is committed to continuing the development and growth of the business, to serving its current its current network of customers, and to retaining and motivating its employees.”
Nokia bought its way onto the corporate e-mail playground three years ago with the $430 million acquisition of Intellisync Corp., but the company failed to gain much traction against entrenched players such as Microsoft and Research In Motion Ltd. Much of the technology at the heart of the corporate e-mail offering will be “reallocated” to the company’s new consumer push e-mail service, which may eventually become a key component of Nokia’s Ovi offering.
Nokia shares were down more than 7% following the news at $18.29 mid-day Monday.