Nokia to compete with Google as it plans full buy out of Symbian

Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia, is to buy out its fellow shareholders in UK-based handset software firm, Symbian, in a move to develop its software to compete with Google’s planned Android operating system.

Nokia, which already owns 48% of Symbian, is paying €264 million (£209 million, $410 million) to buy out the other shareholders in the handset software firm.

Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Panasonic and Siemens have agreed to sell their stakes in Symbian, say Nokia. Samsung Electronics is also expected to accept the offer, it said.

Symbian has approximately two-thirds of the market for supplying operating systems for smartphones - high-end phones that allow email and web browsing.

Commenting on the deal, Nokia’s chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said this will drive the development of new and exciting, web-enabled applications for a new generation of consumers.

Symbian added that the takeover was a fundamental step in the establishment of the Symbian Foundation, which is expected to start operating in the first half of next year.

As a result of the foundation, Nokia, AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone, will collaborate on a new, royalty-free open software platform for mobile phones.

The deal is logical according to analysts. Nokia has been under pressure to increase its holding, particularly since there were owners such as Panasonic and Siemens, who were there for historical reasons, according to Karri Rinta at Handelsbanken.

The deal follows news that Google’s Android platform for mobile phones had suffered delays.

Story link: Nokia to compete with Google as it plans full buy out of Symbian