Samsung Electronics and Symbian announce today that Samsung, the world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer,(1) has signed an agreement to license the Symbian OS for use in its smartphones for 2.5G and 3G networks worldwide.

Picture shows David Levin, Chief Executive, Symbian Ltd.

Samsung's first Symbian OS product will be a global data-enabled phone using the Series 60 user interface which Samsung has licensed from Nokia. The world's top five mobile phone manufacturers are now Symbian OS licensees. In total Symbian OS licensees account for more than 80% of worldwide mobile phone sales, as at Q2 2002.(1)

Samsung selected the Symbian OS on the basis of both market and technical merits. Symbian OS's advanced, open technology will enable Samsung to develop and bring smartphones to market rapidly. The growing market for Symbian OS products will enable Samsung to benefit from developers creating third party applications and services for Symbian OS phones.

Byung Duck Cho, Senior Vice President, Wireless Handsets, Samsung said : "Symbian has demonstrated its ability to deliver leading edge technology, stimulate product innovation and work closely with its licensees to ship industry-leading smartphones. We look forward to delivering open Symbian OS phones to global markets. The flexibility of the technology will allow us to produce innovative products with multi-media capabilities that provide a compelling experience for mobile users."

David Levin, Chief Executive, Symbian Ltd., said : "We are delighted to welcome Samsung as a Symbian OS licensee. Samsung is a leading developer of CDMA and GSM mobile phones for key Asian and other worldwide markets, with extensive experience in developing innovative high end multimedia mobile phones. We look forward to Samsung extending the choice of Symbian OS phones available to customers worldwide. With Samsung as a licensee, Symbian OS further strengthens its position as the industry standard operating system. Manufacturers representing over 80% of the mobile phone market are now Symbian OS licensees."