Symbian secures additional funding
London, UK - January 29, 2002 - Symbian Ltd., ("Symbian") today announces a further funding round from its shareholders. Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion have committed further funding pro rata to their existing shareholdings. Sony Ericsson has taken up Ericsson's pro rata subscription rights, becoming a new shareholder. Symbian is to receive a total of £20.75m additional funding to take the company through the next phase of its development. As at 31st December 2001, Symbian Ltd had net cash of £16.9 million.
Katsumi Ihara, President, Sony Ericsson, said: "The Sony Ericsson joint venture has a clear goal of becoming the leader in mobile multimedia products, which is the product category where an open operating system is essential. We see Symbian OS as a key enabler for our GPRS and 3G smartphones as well as being important for a large and committed 3rd party application developer community."
This latest development builds on the growing industry acceptance of Symbian OS as the standard operating system for 2.5G and 3G mobile phones. Symbian recently announced Fujitsu as a licensee of Symbian OS, joining existing licensees Ericsson, Matsushita (Panasonic), Motorola, Nokia, Psion, Kenwood, Sanyo, Siemens, and Sony. With devices already shipping from Nokia, Ericsson and Psion, 2002 will see the introduction of the first 2.5G Symbian OS phone - the Nokia 7650 - in the second quarter, 2002.
David Potter, Chairman of Symbian, said: "Symbian delivered its 2.5G operating system, Symbian OS v6.1, to licensees in April 2001 - we are now seeing the first of the phones based on this version of Symbian OS being launched in the market. Symbian's development to support next generation wireless standards on Symbian OS is progressing according to schedule. We are seeing a solid commitment by leading mobile phone and technology companies to Symbian OS."
Kurt Hellström, President and CEO, Ericsson, said: "Ericsson is committed to driving open industry standards for wireless communication, and we were the first to introduce phones based on Symbian OS. We continue to see Symbian OS as a powerful solution for the next generation of mobile handsets, and an important driver for new applications and services for the Mobile Internet."
Yasuo Katsura, President, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd, said: "Panasonic continues its commitment to Symbian. Symbian's support for open standards and its advanced operating system make it the natural choice for Panasonic's next generation phones. Panasonic is planning to introduce Symbian OS for GPRS and future 3G mobile phones."
Mike Zafirovski, President of Motorola's Personal Communications Sector, said: "Symbian OS will play a key role within Motorola's product portfolio. As an active shareholder and supporter of Symbian, Motorola believes that Symbian OS provides handset manufacturers with an opportunity to accelerate the adoption of compelling new, multi-media services. Our investment is a further demonstration of our commitment to making smart phones a reality for our customers around the world."
Matti Alahuhta, President, Nokia Mobile Phones, Nokia, said: "With the introduction of the Nokia 7650, the first Symbian OS product supporting GPRS and MMS, we are taking a significant leap forward in shaping the future of mobile communications. The Symbian OS forms a solid basis for new advanced features and applications, giving mobile customers a superior user experience. Nokia is committed to Symbian, and as we have previously stated, at least half of our 3G devices in 2004 will be based on Symbian OS."
David Levin, Chief Executive Officer, Psion PLC, said: "Today's funding reflects industry-wide support for Symbian OS. Psion has taken up its full pre-emption rights in the current funding round and remains Symbian's largest shareholder, underlining Psion's commitment to achieving best value from its strategic investment in Symbian. Psion continues to develop products using Symbian OS; Psion's latest product, the netpad™, is now shipping."
With the recent addition of new licensees, Symbian OS licensees currently represent over seventy percent of global mobile phone shipments.*
Colly Myers, Chief Executive Officer, Symbian, said "With our new shareholder, new licensees and new devices Symbian is rapidly setting the direction for the industry with Symbian OS - where partnership and focus on open standards will enable a mass consumer market for next generation mobile phones and services."
Notes to editors:
1. Symbian OS devices
Licensee | Device model | Regions | Symbian OS version |
Sony Ericsson | R380 World smartphone R380e smartphone |
US Europe, Asia & China |
Symbian OS v5u Symbian OS v5u |
Nokia | 9210 Communicator 9290 Communicator |
Europe & Asia China (due H1, 2002) USA (due H1, 2002) Europe & Asia (due Q2, 2002) |
Symbian OS v6.0 Symbian OS v6.0 Symbian OS v6.0 Symbian OS v6.1 |
Psion | Series 5mx Revo netbook netpad |
Europe, Asia & US Europe, Asia & US Europe, Asia & US Europe, Asia & US |
Symbian OS v5 |
2. Major Symbian OS releases
Release name |
Date OS shipped |
Key features |
Symbian OS v1 | Q2, 1997 | Core 32-bit operating system for mobile devices |
Symbian OS v3 | Q4, 1997 | Messaging and Web browsing, connectivity enhancements |
Symbian OS v5 | Q2, 1999 | Integrated messaging and Java implementation |
Symbian OS v5u | Q4, 1999 | Unicode support |
Symbian OS v6.0 | Q4, 2000 | Fully open platform with integrated wireless communications, Internet access and mobile computing |
Symbian OS v6.1 | Q2, 2001 | Bluetooth, WAP 1.2.1 & support for 2.5G wireless networks |
3. Symbian Technology partners
More information about Symbian's technology partner programs may be found at http://www.symbian.com/partners/partners.html.
Symbian Competence Centers: ARM, Dextra Technologies, Digia, EMCC, Kanrikogaku Kenkyusho, Omron Software, Teleca, Texas Instruments, Wipro Technologies
Symbian Connectivity Partners: Aether Systems, Extended Systems, fusionOne, Pumatech, Starfish Software
Symbian Platform Partners: Agfa Monotype, ANT, ARM, DataViz, Infomatrix, Opera, RSA Security, Sun Microsystems, Time I.S.
Symbian Technology Partners: ART, Atelier, AvantGo, Beatnik, Birdstep, CIC, elata, Emblaze, F-Secure, iAnywhere Solutions, IBM, Intuwave, NeuVoice, Oracle, PacketVideo, PointBase, RealNetworks, Softology, SSH Communications Security, Stellent, Terraplay, XcelleNet
Symbian Semiconductor Partners: ARM, Intel, Motorola SPS, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, Texas Instruments
Symbian Tools Partners: ARM, Cogent, Intel, Lauterbach, Metrowerks, Texas Instruments
Symbian Training Partners: Digia, EMCC, Kanrikogaku Kenkyusho, PCA, Saven, TietoEnator, Tieturi, Xenient
4. Summary of recent announcements
Details on these and other Symbian press releases may be found at http://www.symbian.com/press-office/latest-pr.html.
Dec 12 | - Dates for the global Symbian Developer Expo announced |
Dec 12 | - Symbian announces port of 2.5G enabled Symbian OS to Intel StrongARM applications processor |
Nov 28 | - Fujitsu Limited selects Symbian OS for 3G phones |
Nov 20 | - Symbian and Beatnik partner to enable rich audio experiences for next generation mobile handsets |
Nov 19 | - Nokia announces world's first always connected Symbian OS phone, the Nokia 7650 |
Nov 12 | - Industry leaders announce commitment to open mobile architecture enabling a non-fragmented global mobile services market |
Nov 12 | - Macromedia and Symbian team to bring Macromedia Flash Player to Symbian OS |
Oct 17 | - Wireless Java™ for Symbian Devices |
Jul 23 | - Symbian becomes first OS vendor to license ARM Jazelle technology software |
Jul 18 | - Symbian partners with Extended Systems to boost connectivity |
Jun 28 | - XcelleNet and Symbian partner to provide wireless management to enterprises |
Jun 28 | - Symbian and RealNetworks form alliance to enable mobile media experiences for next generation mobile handsets |
Jun 07 | - Symbian and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. announce 'Symbian Press' publishing imprint |
May 29 | - Symbian enhances wireless Internet offering with Opera |
Apr 17 | - Emblaze Systems and Symbian sign a strategic technology and marketing agreement |
Mar 22 | - IBM and Symbian to deliver the first wireless solution
to extend today's e-business infrastructures to next generation smartphones |
Mar 21 | - Symbian connects with leading technology vendors to enable smartphones |
Mar 21 | - Symbian unveils platform for 2.5G smartphones and communicators at CeBIT 2001 |
Feb 19 | - Siemens adopts Symbian for smartphones |
Jan 29 | - Metrowerks to provide comprehensive development tools for the Symbian platform |
Jan 24 | - Certicom and Symbian partner to provide VPN Security for wireless devices |
5. Corporate Information
About Symbian
Symbian is a software licensing company, owned by wireless industry leaders, that
is the trusted supplier of the advanced, open, standard operating system for data-enabled
mobile phones. Symbian's mission is to create a mass-market for Symbian OS mobile
phones by enabling our licensees to build winning products. Symbian's website can
be found at www.symbian.com.
About Ericsson
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through
its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than
140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies
in the world. Ericsson's website is at www.ericsson.com.
About Matsushita Communication Industrial
Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand
products, is a principal subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.,
(NYSE: MC) and specializes in mobile communications area. One of the world's first
3G handset manufacturers for commercial services in Japan, in fiscal year 2000-2001
the company recorded consolidated sales of 1,060 billion yen (US$8.56 billion).
For more information, visit www.mci.panasonic.co.jp/english.
About Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT - news) is a global leader in providing integrated communications
solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2000 were $37.6 billion. For
more information, please visit the Motorola Web site at: www.motorola.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation,
user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier
of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks.
By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies
and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company
with listings on six major exchanges. www.nokia.com.
About Psion
The Psion Group focuses on providing mobile data and corporate network solutions.
Psion has a well-earned reputation for technology innovation and leadership. Psion
was founded in 1980 by Chairman David Potter and is now one of Europe's leading
technology companies with a history of pioneering
new markets for digital products.
Psion is the largest shareholder in Symbian, a joint venture company owned by Psion,
Ericsson, Motorola, Matsushita and Nokia. Symbian's objective is to develop and
market its platform technology as the industry standard for the next generation
of Smartphones and Communicators.
Psion PLC's strategy focuses on industrial and enterprise markets through Psion
Teklogix; innovative markets for 'thin client' products such as the netBook through
Psion Digital; and on its strategic investment in Symbian. For more information,
please visit www.psion.com.
About Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB offers mobile communications products for
people who appreciate the possibilities of powerful technology. Established in 2001
by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Sony Corporation, the joint venture continues
to build on the success of its two innovative parent companies. Sony Ericsson creates
value for its operator customers by bringing new ways of using multimedia communications
while mobile. The company's management is based in London, and has 3,500 employees
across the globe working on research, development, design, sales, marketing, distribution
and support. Sony Ericsson's website is at www.sonyericssonmobile.com.