Nokia is apparently hopping on and off the selling block, and at least two companies considered a sale-- the Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft "held advanced talks" on the matter, while the Financial Times says Huawei is "open" to a deal. 

According to the WSJ Microsoft wanted to buy the Nokia handset business, but discussions "faltered" due to matters of price and mobile market position (or lack thereof, rather). Apparently talks were taking place as recently as this month, but will probably not be revived. 

Meanwhile Huawei appears to "consider" acquiring Nokia in order to become the biggest smartphone maker around. At the London Ascend P6 launch event Huawei chairman Richard Yu tells the FT "We are considering these sorts of acquisitions; maybe the combination has some synergies but depends on the willingness of Nokia. We are open-minded." 

It all sounds rather ambitious, but the Chinese company admits one flaw in Nokia-- the adoption of Windows Phone. Yu continues "[Windows Phone] has a very small market share. [Windows Phones] are weak but still require a licence fee. That’s not good. Android is free.”

No one can tell exactly how much the Nokia handset business worth. While currently a shadow of its former self, Nokia remains the second biggest mobile vendor in the world with 14% Q1 2013 market share according to IDC. It is also Windows Phone leader, making 79% of Windows Phone devices on the market. 

Go Microsoft Explored Deal for Nokia (WSJ.com)

Go Huawei Open to Nokia Deal But Says Windows Mobile Remains Weak (FT.com)