Nokia said in a statement this week that it does not expect to close the sale of its phone business to Microsoft until at least sometime in April due to ongoing discussions with Asian regulators, according to Reuters.
The news has many analyst speculating that the company may have to make technology patent concessions to get the deal finalized once and for all.
Nokia had expected to close the deal before the end of March.
"(The delay) is a bad sign. They have been discussing with authorities for quite a while already, and they still need more time," Nordea Markets analyst Sami Sarkamies said, according to Reuters.
Once the company sells its handset business, Nokia will derive over 90 percent of sales from its telecom network business.
Its patent portfolio is seen as "a promising source of future growth" as well however, according to Reuters.
Nokia has paid competitors in the past for the use of their licenses, along with charging for its own. Analysts believe the new deal would allow Nokia to increase those fees.
Samsung and Google have both asked Chinese regulators to make sure the 5.4 billion euro deal in place between Microsoft and Nokia won't lead to higher licensing fees, according to Reuters.
"The biggest risk is in the upside of their patents. It looks like Nokia will have to make bigger concessions to push the deal through," said Sarkamies.
Nokia has said publicly on a number of occasions that its tax disputes in India will not have an impact on the deal, despite what many people think.
Indian authorities hit Nokia with a $414 million tax claim earlier this month after a Supreme Court decision ordered the company to give a $571 million before transferring its Chennai factory to Microsoft, according to Reuters.
Microsoft is confident that a deal will be reached, even if it gets moved to April.
"We are nearing the final stages of our global regulatory approval process," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said Microsoft in a statement on its website. "Currently we are awaiting approval confirmation in the final markets."
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