Finland’s Nokia Oyj has agreed to sell its handset business and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) to US software giant Microsoft, casting together the lot of two companies trying to stay relevant against fleet-footed technology rivals.

“Both Nokia and Microsoft really missed the boat in terms of smartphones, and it is extremely difficult to claw your way back from that,” Paul Budde, a Sydney-based telecommunications consultant, told Bloomberg. “The question is whether combining two weak companies will get you a strong new competitor. It’s doubtful.”

Nokia, which will continue as a maker of networking equipment and holder of patents, was once the world’s dominant handset manufacturer but was long since overtaken by Apple and Samsung in the highly competitive market for more powerful smartphones.

“I have mixed feelings, because I’m a Finn. As a Finnish person, I cannot like this deal. It ends one chapter in this Nokia story,” Juha Varis, Danske Capital’s senior portfolio manager whose fund owns Nokia shares, told Reuters. “On the other hand, it was maybe the last opportunity to sell it.”