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BUSINESS NEWS
Is Symbian Still Independent?
Symbian is the third major wireless platform, battling for marketshare against PalmOS and Microsoft Windows Mobile. Nokia has hoped to buy Psion's Symbian shares and gain a controlling stake in the platform.
Shareholders have ensured that Symbian, the mobile phone OS company Nokia co-founded in 1998 with Psion and Ericsson, remains neutral.
Motorola joined Symbian a few months after the founding, but sold its shares to Nokia and Psion in 2003. When Psion announced it was selling its 31.1 percent stake, Nokia planned to buy the shares, which would have given it a 63.3 percent stake in Symbian.
Instead, in a Symbian equity structure adjustment, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic, and Siemens bought up many of the shares. As a result, no one company holds a controlling percentage. The share holdings are as follows:
- Nokia: 47.9 percent
- Ericsson: 15.6 percent
- Sony Ericsson: 13.1 percent
- Panasonic: 10.5 percent
- Siemens: 8.4 percent
- Samsung: 4.5 percent
Nokia controlling Symbian's direction was a concern, because it would have placed the hardware leader for mobile phones in charge of the dominant handset OS. (Most handsets still run a proprietary OS, with Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux competing for the remaining market).
The phone makers founded Symbian to create operating systems based on Psion's EPOC software that could be used by any mobile phone maker. The organization says 6.67 million Symbian OS phones shipped in 2003, and 2.4 million shipped in the first quarter of 2004. In addition, 34 new phones are under development by 10 licensees. Symbian says its goal is to take the operating system into lower-cost mass markets for phones using 2.5G and especially 3G networks.
Symbian shareholders have also jointly agreed to appoint an independent, non-executive Chairman to the Symbian Board.
ARTICLE INFO
Web Edition: 2004 Week 29, Doc #13681
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Keyword Tags: Cell Phone, Communications, Ericsson, Handheld, Hardware, IT Networking, Linux, Matsushita, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Mobile Business, Motorola, Nokia, Operating System, Phone, Psion, Psion EPOC, Samsung, Siemens, Smart phone, Sony, Symbian, Telecommunications, Wireless
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