Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Moto exits Symbian 1 day after releasing Symbian OS 'phone

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 13:47:40 -0400

Motorola looks to exit Symbian

by Sandra Wendelken
Aug. 29, 2003

Despite just releasing a phone based on the Symbian operating system, Motorola
Inc. said it will exit the OS venture. 

Nokia Corp. said it and Psion plc have begun procedures with Motorola to transfer
Motorola’s shares in Symbian to Nokia and Psion. 

Once the transaction is completed, Nokia would increase its shareholding from
about 19 percent to 32 percent, and Psion would increase its Symbian ownership to
about 31 percent. Nokia said the transfer would not affect Motorola’s existing
licensing arrangement with Symbian. 

Nokia said the transaction values Symbian at about $470 million. 

Motorola said it would continue to support the Symbian OS for specific customer
and business needs, such as its third-generation devices. “However, our primary
software focus for the mass market will stay centered on Java, which is also
supported by Symbian,” said Scott Durchslag, corporate vice president of
Motorola’s Personal Communications Sector. “We believe Java is what ultimately
provides our customers worldwide with the most optimized and differentiated mobile
experiences.” 

Nokia, Motorola, Psion, Siemens AG, L.M. Ericsson, Panasonic and Samsung formed
Symbian in 1998 to develop an OS for advanced smart phones. The company is just
beginning to see the first major fruits of its labor, with Symbian reporting last
week that Symbian OS unit shipments grew in the first half of the year to 2.68
million from 230,000 in the same period last year. Its royalty revenue increased
to $16.2 million in the first half of 2003 from $2.4 million in the same half last
year. 

Motorola has been looking at options outside of Symbian for months. The world’s
No. 2 mobile-phone maker earlier this year announced major support for the
Linux/Java operating system and said it would include the technology in a majority
of its devices. In addition, Motorola has been rumored to be working with
Microsoft Corp., Symbian’s main competitor, on a phone using Microsoft’s
Smartphone OS, although both companies have declined to comment on the rumor. 

Interestingly, just yesterday, Motorola released its first phone based on the
Symbian OS. Motorola and 3G operator 3 together introduced the Motorola A920 3G
handset featuring a full-color widescreen display designed to showcase video
calling capabilities and video content. 

Nokia said the transactions are subject to clearance by the German Federal Cartel
Office and to a pre-emption procedure among the other Symbian shareholders. These
procedures have been started and are expected to be completed within the coming
weeks.

 http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=14884

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