Nokia was mentioned as a potential target for a buyout. Microsoft was reportedly very close to an agreement to buy the Finnish OEM, according to a report published in the Wall Street Journal. 

Nokia and Microsoft are of course already close, as Nokia’s flagship Lumia phones are built around Microsoft’s Windows Phone mobile operating system. 

The two companies apparently reached an oral agreement but talks eventually fell apart over price and Nokia’s competitive position in the market behind Apple and Google. 

The news comes after a Financial Times report quoted Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, as saying his company was considering acquisitions and that Nokia was a possible target. 

Yu’s comments came ahead of the Huawei’s London launch event for its latest flagship smartphone, the Ascend P6. 

Shares of Nokia Tuesday hit a daily high of $4.12, up from an opening of $3.69. By the afternoon, Huawei had refuted the comments, and Nokia shares had settled back down to today’s opening price of $3.86.

Recent numbers from Katnar Worldpanel Comtech found that sales of Windows Phone saw an increase of 1.8 percentage points. Android, meanwhile, was up 1.4 percentage points.

Overall, Android ended the quarter with 51.7 percent of the total smartphone market, while iOS took a solid 41.4 percent, followed by Windows at 5.6 percent.  

Shares of Nokia were up about a percent in early trading today to $3.89.