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Microsoft's聽acquisition of聽Nokia's聽troubled smartphone business represents a daring $7.2 billion attempt by the software giant and a once-influential cellphone maker to catch up with the mobile computing revolution that threatens to leave them in the technological dust.

The deal announced late Monday offers both companies a chance to make up for lost time with a strategy to meld their software and hardware into a cohesive package, like rival Apple has done. But there are plenty of reasons to question whether the copycat approach will pay off.

Unlike Apple,聽Microsoft聽Corp. makes most of its money from software for personal computers 鈥� a still-profitable franchise that has gradually been crumbling as smartphones and tablets supplant laptop and desktop machines. By some estimates, more than two-thirds of the computing devices being sold now are either smartphones or tablets, and there are few signs that trend will change during the next decade.

To complicate聽Microsoft's聽transition, the Redmond, Wash., company is being led by a lame duck.聽Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who negotiated the聽Nokia聽deal, recently announced plans to retire within the next year in a tacit admission that the company needs a different leader to blaze new trails.

The managerial limbo raises even more doubts about whether聽Microsoft聽will be able to turn聽Nokia's聽phones into more effective weapons in a mobile-computing battle against devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android software and Apple Inc.'s iPhone and IPad.

"It's a three-horse race, and聽Microsoft聽knows it needs to come up with a more well-defined plan for mobile devices to catch up," said Darren Hayes, a computer science professor at Pace University in New York. "This was an essential acquisition for them."

The聽Nokia聽deal didn't go over well with investors wearied by Microsoft's聽largely fruitless efforts to evolve into something more than a PC-dependent company.

Microsoft's聽stock shed $1.52, or 4.6 percent, to close Tuesday at $31.88.聽Nokia聽Corp.'s shares surged $1.22, or 31 percent, to finish at $5.12.

Nokia, a Finnish company, has seen its cellphone business unravel since Apple revolutionized the way people use handsets with the 2007 introduction of the iPhone.聽Nokia's聽problems grew worse in 2009 after Google began giving away its Android software to smartphone makers, spawning an array of sleek, low-cost alternatives.

In an attempt to bounce back,聽Nokia聽lured Stephen Elop away from聽Microsoft聽to become CEO nearly three years ago. That move has not worked out well for聽Nokia's聽shareholders. Even with Tuesday's rally,聽Nokia's stock remains about 40 percent below where it stood when Elop became CEO.

Despite those losses, Elop has emerged as a candidate to replace Ballmer as聽Microsoft's聽CEO. Elop is stepping down as聽Nokia's聽CEO to re-join聽Microsoft, where he will oversee the company's devices division.聽Nokia聽board Chairman Risto Siilasmaa will serve as the company's interim CEO.

Elop decided to abandon聽Nokia's聽old operating system in 2011 in favor of聽Microsoft's聽Windows system for phones. That move established聽Nokia聽as聽Microsoft's聽most important partner in the mobile device market. About four out of every five phones running on Windows are made by聽Nokia, according to the latest information from research firm International Data Corp.

Nokia聽accounted for such of large chunk of Windows phones largely because other manufacturers such as LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and HTC have either been scrapping the system or de-emphasizing its use in favor of Android, said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

Microsoft聽still hopes to license its Windows software to other smartphone makers. In return, the company receives less than $10 in royalties for each Windows smartphone sold.

Although聽Nokia's聽line of Lumia phones has received some positive reviews, they still have not won over enough fans to establish聽Microsoft聽as a formidable force in smartphones.

Phones running on Windows have 4 percent of the worldwide market, leaving them a distant third to Android-powered devices at 79 percent and Apple's iPhone at 13 percent, according to IDC.

"We know we need to accelerate. We're not confused about that," Ballmer told investors and analysts Tuesday. "We need to be a company that provides a family of devices."

Microsoft聽is betting that it can develop a more appealing line of Windows phones if the hardware and software are more tightly wound together. That's a concept that propelled the success of Apple's iPhone and iPad, whose operating systems are tailored specifically for those devices. Apple also maintains a rigid screening process for applications.

Hayes thinks聽Microsoft's聽Nokia聽deal is also similar to Google's $12.4 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, another struggling cellphone maker, completed last year. Like聽Microsoft, Google wanted to secure its own pipeline of mobile devices to serve as a showcase for its Android software and other online services.

Just like Google did with Motorola,聽Microsoft聽is also buying the rights to a portfolio of valuable mobile patents with the聽Nokia.

Microsoft's聽purchase price consists of 3.79 billion euros ($5 billion) for the聽Nokia聽unit that makes mobile phones. Another 1.65 billion euros ($2.2 billion) will be paid for a 10-year license to use聽Nokia's聽patents, with the option to extend it indefinitely.

The money to buy聽Nokia's聽smartphones and patents will be drawn from the nearly $70 billion that聽Microsoftheld in overseas accounts as of June 30.

The deal with聽Nokia聽represents the second most expensive acquisition in聽Microsoft's聽38-year history, ranking behind an $8.5 billion purchase of Internet calling and video conferencing service Skype. Tony Bates, who ran Skype, is also regarded as a potential successor to Ballmer.

Although Google executives have insisted that they are pleased with Motorola Mobility's progress, analysts say it's still unclear if that deal will ever merit the steep price tag. Motorola Mobility has lost $1.7 billion under Google's ownership so far.

Some analysts are worried about聽Nokia聽becoming a financial drag on聽Microsoft. If the deal closes by early next year, as聽Microsoft聽expects, the company will inherit 32,000聽Nokia聽employees. That will represent a nearly one-third increase in聽Microsoft's聽current payroll of 99,000 employees.

Microsoft聽believes聽Nokia聽will begin to increase its adjusted earnings during the fiscal year ending in June 2015. That projection hinges largely on聽Microsoft's聽hopes to sell about 50 million Windows-powered smartphones annually. Reaching that goal will require a roughly 40 percent increase from the current pace of Windows phone sales, based on IDC's second-quarter numbers.

Microsoft's聽expansion into mobile devices hasn't fared well so far. Last year, the company began selling a line of tablets called Surface in hopes of undercutting Apple's iPad. The version of Surface running on a revamped version of the Windows operating system fared so poorly that the company absorbed a $900 million charge in its last quarter to account for the flop.

"This is a logical step, but it's only a small step in the direction of having a more integrated approach to hardware and software," Golvin said of the聽Nokia聽deal. "The challenge for聽Microsoft聽is how to provide everything that customers want in a clear and unified way, no matter what device that customer might be holding, whether it's a phone, a tablet or an Xbox controller."

Huuhtanen reported from Helsinki.