London ( CNN ) -- It 's the deal that 's been rumored since Stephen Elop joined Nokia from Microsoft three years ago , and now it 's become reality . Microsoft is to buy Nokia , and become a phone manufacturer ... for the second time . That 's right , Nokia is n't the first phone company to be bought by Microsoft . It bought Danger in 2008 , which it then used to launch the Microsoft Kin phone . That effort lasted around nine months before the whole adventure got canned and the world moved on . This time around promises to be different . Nokia , which was the number one seller of mobile phones globally in 2007 , had a tough few years before the stewardship of Elop slowly started to turn it around . Watch more : Microsoft to buy Nokia 's phone business . The Lumia range , which now includes half-a-dozen handsets , is still a minnow in the smartphone world in terms of market share , but it is slowly gaining traction . More and more people are going Lumia . Since its rebirth , Nokia has over taken BlackBerry in around 34 markets , according to the company , and things are looking up following the success , in relative terms , of its latest batch of Lumia handsets . The race is far from won , but at least , unlike BlackBerry , it is heading in the right direction . The deal will likely benefit Microsoft in the same way creating and making smartphones has for Apple . The Cupertino-based company has for the past six years been able to make phones , market them , and sell them in its own stores . As retailers throughout the last century can show ( Marks & Spencer , Sainsbury 's and Dixons in the UK , ) if you make and sell your own products , the margins can be higher , and the profits better . As the world 's austerity drive continues , every little bit helps , and Microsoft will be able to reap those rewards even more once it owns Nokia outright . So what next for both parties ? Well not much is likely to change in the short term , but Nokia will more than likely move into the tablet arena a lot quicker . Likewise , Microsoft 's Surface tablet is likely to be rebranded or ditched completely , in favor of something more Nokia-flavored . Microsoft will license the Nokia name for the next 10 years . Then there is the former Nokia CEO , Elop . Microsoft 's CEO Steve Ballmer has announced that he 'll be stepping down over the next year , and Elop will surely have his sights firmly set on replacing him . Elop stepped down as Nokia 's CEO on Monday to become the head of the company 's devices and services business . He will continue leading Nokia 's phones business as the devices chief at Microsoft . Whether you believe Nokia has done well or not , Elop has done a fantastic job at Nokia , and there 's very little stopping him . Being a Microsoft employee will only help his cause . Perhaps Steve Ballmer was n't such a bad CEO after all , especially considering that the $ 7.2 billion price tag for Nokia is less than the $ 8.5 billion it paid for Skype . This deal has just as much , if not more potential . But ultimately , by buying Nokia , Microsoft 's ambition to become a hardware company is well and truly realized . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stuart Miles .
Nokia had three years ago before Elop slowly started to turn it around , says Miles . Deal will benefit Microsoft the same way that making smartphones has for Microsoft , he says . Not much will change in the short term , but Surface tablet `` likely to be rebranded or ditched '' Apple 's ambition to become hardware company is well and truly realized , Stuart Miles says .