Paper: Cisco Interested in Buying Nokia

Nokia shares jumped early Monday on a report that the number one mobile phone maker may be an acquisition target of communications giant Cisco. London's Business newspaper reported Sunday that Cisco CEO John Chambers was looking to merge with a wireless carrier and Nokia was on the top of a short list.

Analysts, however, remained skeptical of such a move and a Nokia spokesperson called the report "pure speculation." Cisco is valued at $123 billion while Nokia's market capitalization sits around $71 billion, and any acquisition price would likely be even higher. But Nokia and Cisco are currently collaborating on connecting mobile phones to Cisco's enterprise IP switches.