Nokia to buy-out Symbian

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Nokia to buy-out Symbian

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By Editorial Team (Tuesday, 24th June 2008)

Mobile manufacturer Nokia has revealed plans to take full control of software firm Symbian by buying out the company's other shareholders.

The Finnish firm will pay €264 million (£209 million) to acquire the remaining 52 per cent of Symbian, with many industry analysts interpreting the move as a direct attempt to compete with Android, the forthcoming mobile platform from Google.

Nokia said that Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Siemens and Panasonic have all agreed to sell their stakes in Symbian, with fellow shareholder Samsung also expected to accept its offer.

Founded in 1998, the London-based company has become the largest developer of advanced mobile operating systems in the world and now enjoys a 60 per cent market share, according to data from Nokia.

The BBC reports that over 200 million phones based on the Symbian OS operating platform have been shipped to date.

Although it continues to dominate the handset market, Nokia is keen to challenge Google, Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion in the growing market for high-end smartphones.