Don't know where else to put this so I'll put it here :-
https://www.reuters.com/article/mergersN ... 1520080624Quote:
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish cellphone maker Nokia Corp (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it was buying out other shareholders of UK-based handset software firm Symbian Ltd, and opening the software for royalty-free use.
The net cash outlay from Nokia to buy the approximately 52 percent of Symbian shares it does not already own will be about 264 million euros ($410 million).
Nokia said Sony Ericsson (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Panasonic and Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have accepted the offer, and it also expects Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to accept it.
Nokia also said it had formed Symbian Foundation together with AT&T (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), NTT DoCoMo (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Sony Ericsson, Motorola and chip makers Texas Instruments (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and STMicroelectronics.
"This will drive the development of new and compelling, web-enabled applications to delight a new generation of consumers," Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a statement.
Symbian has about two-thirds of the smartphone software market, and its closest rival is Microsoft's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Windows Mobile.
This is a massive move.. Its basically trying to compete against Android (Google) and they have signed up some major players in both manufacturing and Carriers in some of the main global markets. It holds a lot of strategic value, expect lots of financial commentary, counter moves and announcements in the mobile space. It's also a move against iPhone, effectively giving the mobile industry a 5 way race
Mac OS (iPhone) vs Android vs Symbian Foundation vs RIM vs Microsoft Mobile
From a personal perspective, my current employer (Nokia) has just bought up the remaining shares of my previous employer (Symbian). Hopefully it will add a bit of current buzz to my personal profile during the recruiting season.