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    HomeInsightsSymbian comes out fighting on 1Q figures

    Symbian comes out fighting on 1Q figures

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    Thomas Chambers, the interim ceo and cfo of Symbian, said that the software developer had seen strong growth in handsets built on its OS shipping to the market in the first quarter of 2005, especially in Japan in the 3G market.

    Company figures showed that Symbian OS shipments grew strongly in the first quarter of 2005 to 6.75 million, representing more than 180% year on year growth.  A total of 48 Symbian OS phones were shipping to network operators around the world in the quarter, Chambers said and  nine of these phones — from Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Nokia and Panasonic — were launched during the quarter.  In total Symbian OS phones were being released to the market from 11 licensees and shipments in Q1 2005 took the worldwide installed base of Symbian OS phones to more than 32m.
    “Symbian continues to strengthen its market-leading position in advanced 3G markets, particularly in Japan,” Chambers said. Â “Of the 48 phones based on Symbian OS currently shipping, 12 are designed for 3G networks. In Q1 2005, Mitsubishi launched its first Symbian OS product for NTT DoCoMo’s 3G FOMA network. Â In the course of the past two years Fujitsu has launched a total of eight Symbian OS products for NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA network. Â In November 2004, Sharp and Sony Ericsson announced their intention to develop phones based on Symbian OS for NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA network.”
    Chambers reiterated that it was in  February 2005 that Symbian announced the latest version of Symbian OS, Symbian OS v9. Phones based on Symbian OS v9 are anticipated to come to market during the second half of 2005.
    “Symbian continues to focus development on ensuring Symbian OS competes effectively with proprietary operating systems as a platform for higher volume, mid-tier phones,” he said, and added for good measure that “Symbian OS is designed as a platform for phones that enable cost-effective deployment by network operators of value-added services and content. “ 
    A look at the story above this one may confirm which rival OS vendor that little jibe was aimed at…