Nokia's Series 60 Platform Leads Industry as Smart Phone Adoption Grows
March 22, 2004
Leadership position reinforces the value of open standards-based technologies
and platforms in the mobile industry
March 22, 2004, CTIA, Atlanta, GA - With millions of devices already on the
market, the Series 60 Platform is the most widely deployed platform among smart
phones. Industry uptake of the Series 60 Platform can be attributed to its open
interfaces and standards, feature-rich functionality and flexibility for
manufacturer differentiation and innovation.
The Series 60 Platform, which is optimized for the Symbian Operating System, is
the first smart phone platform going to volumes with 5 licensees already having
announced devices. More than 100 operators globally are now selling handsets
based on the Series 60 Platform, including all the major GSM operators in the US
& Canada. Later this year, the Series 60 Platform will also support CDMA.
"Smart phone shipments worldwide are expected to have another year of 100
percent growth in 2004 and will continue to grow steadily through 2007," says
Kevin Burden, manager of IDC's mobile devices research program. "Smart phones
will claim the dominant market position from the traditional PDA this year, out
shipping PDAs for the first time, and by a factor of 2 to 1. Furthermore, we see
a trend where smart phones make up approximately 85percent of all intelligent
mobile device shipments by the year 2007."
"The Series 60 Platform equipped devices provide an open, consistent and
innovative platform that allows developers to create and deploy enticing
applications for our subscribers," said Ketan Kamdar, Vice President Device
Development, AT&T Wireless Services. "AT&T Wireless looks forward to deploying
future devices based on the Series 60 Platform."
The Series 60 Community has already expanded significantly in 2004. Today, LG
Electronics, a top provider of mobile devices, and Nokia, announced a licensing
agreement for the Series 60 Platform. LG Electronics will license the Series 60
Platform as source code. The source code enables licensees to further develop
and differentiate the software for Series 60 based products while maintaining
the underlying application interoperability. Latest additions to the range of
Series 60 Platform based devices include Panasonic's flagship model for 2004 --
the X700 smartphone, and the Nokia 7610 imaging phone -- the company's first
megapixel camera phone. Earlier this year, Nokia announced the first
EDGE-capable handset based on the Series 60 Platform, the Nokia 6620.
In February, Legend Group Limited (Lenovo) joined the ranks of Series 60
Platform licensees, using the newly available Series 60 Complete Design Model.
The Complete Design Model will enable Series 60 Platform licensees to deploy
their Series 60 Platform-based products more rapidly by leveraging the resources
available through Series 60 Product Creation Community to expedite the product
creation process. Also announced in February is a new website tailored for key
stakeholders of the Series 60 community. As a key portal providing the latest
news, developments, information, and tools, www.series60.com will give
visibility of the milestones, achievements and successes of the growing Series
60 community.
Series 60 continues to enjoy wide developer support with more than 1,400 Series
60 based applications already in Nokia channels alone, and more than 2,100
Symbian-based applications on the market. The developer population is
downloading more than 460,000 tools and documents each month from Forum Nokia,
the world's leading mobile online developer community, aiding in the creation
and availability of thousands of new Java and Symbian applications globally.
Series 60 is currently licensed by some of the foremost mobile phone
manufacturers including Lenovo, Siemens, Samsung, Panasonic, Sendo and Nokia.
The success of the platform among the licensees ensures a large Series 60 device
base and a diverse product portfolio. The licensees, together with operators and
developers, drive innovation into the platform exploiting their vast experience
and expertise in the mobile communications industry. This continued innovation
assures the solid competitiveness of the Series 60 platform. For more
information, please visit www.series60.com.
Series 60 Platform is showcased at CTIA 2004 at The Georgia World Congress
Center in Hall B, Nokia Booth 2547 and Hall B5, Symbian Booth 4665.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and
sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia is dedicated to enhancing
people's lives and productivity by providing easy-to-use and secure products
like mobile phones, and solutions for imaging, games, media, mobile network
operators and businesses. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on five
major exchanges.