Nokia has announced that it is buying out Psion's shares in Symbian. Symbian, owned by a core group of mobile industry players with its independent governance structure, will continue to pursue its fair and non-discriminatory licensing business of the standards-based Symbian operating system (OS).
Continued innovation in services, applications and handsets is required for the growth in the mobile industry. This requires that all parties have the ability to differentiate and add value to their products and services while maintaining end-to-end interoperability. As a founder and shareholder, Nokia is determined to make further investment to support Symbian's long-term success in the increasingly competitive wireless OS market. The decision to acquire Psion's shares in Symbian is based on Nokia's confidence in the Symbian OS as a core platform technology for advanced mobile devices.
The value of the transaction will derive from two parts. A fixed portion of US$172.4 million, and a variable payment of US$1.55 from Nokia to Psion for each Symbian OS device sold during 2004 and 2005.
Upon completion of the transaction, Nokia estimates that its share in Symbian will increase from the current 32.2% up to approximately 63.3%.
"With its advanced and robust operating system, strong customer base and good relationships with operators, Symbian has successfully fulfilled the demanding technical requirements of mobile devices and the diverse needs of the market. It is vital to sustain Symbian's long-term market success in order to enable healthy competition in the OS market and to stimulate innovation throughout the value chain," said Pertti Korhonen, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia.
David Levin, Chief Executive, Symbian Software said "Although this transaction remains to be completed, it is appropriate to recognise the immense contribution Psion made to Symbian in terms of the early development of what has now become Symbian OS and in much of the original strategic vision behind the company. I am delighted that Nokia is making this commitment to invest further in Symbian and to endorse Symbian's strategy and operational activities as an independently governed company working with partners across the mobile industry. We will continue to create value for all Symbian's customers through the commercial delivery of Symbian OS, the industry- and market-leading mobile phone operating system for phone markets worldwide."
Posted to the site on 10th February 2004
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/10587.php