Nokia struggles amid takeover rumours

With share price in free fall and persistent speculation of being a takeover target, Nokia seems to be in no position to attract real suitors interested in saving the struggling mobile phone company, say analysts.

The handset maker has suffered an erosion in equity value from €24.91 billion to €17 billion after a leak in February of CEO Stephen Elop's memo, in which he compared Nokia to a man standing on a burning oil platform.

But what may be worse is the perception among investors that the company's rapid loss of market share in both smartphones and low-end devices may render a recovery impossible.

Another negative from the perspective of investors is that the company does not look like a turnaround candidate with cost cutting since its main problems are rooted in technology.

Bankers remain sceptical about the company's chances of attracting any suitors and put the same at below 10 per cent for a bid for the entire company.

They say there is nobody driving strategy as most of the senior executives had left and the company is in firefighting mode.