Comments on effects toward 3COM please: Symbian, a U.K.-based joint venture that is orchestrating the market for next-generation mobile information devices, said Tuesday it is extending its shareholder base to Asia.
Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. of Japan will take a 9 percent stake in Symbian, the companies told reporters in Tokyo.
That puts Matsushita Communication, the world's fourth largest maker of mobile phone handsets, in league with the industry's Big Three: Motorola Inc. (MOT: news, msgs), Sweden's Ericsson AB (ERICY: news, msgs), Nokia of Finland (NOK: news, msgs) all hold equity stakes in Symbian.
A challenge to Microsoft:
Britain's palm-top computer specialist Psion Plc launched Symbian 11 months ago, partly to fight U.S. software giant Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs).
Psion, the largest shareholder in Symbian, has been announcing one strategic alliance after another around the world to push its EPOC operating system for portables.
Psion and its telecoms partners are betting EPOC will outflank rival Microsoft's Windows CE to become the brains that will tell new mobile phones and palm-tops how to surf the Net, receive faxes and perform transactions.
Psion said it was making a total non-cash gain of 4.6 million pounds from Matsushita Communication's 22-million pound investment in Symbian. See related story
Matsushita Communication's stake demonstrates a growing commitment in Japan to EPOC technology.
"Our strategic relationships with other market leaders and our expertise in manufacturing wireless devices will ensure the rapid acceptance and delivery of tried and tested Smartphones and Communicators based on Symbian's EPOC technology," said Takeshi Kawada, president of Matsushita Communication.
Matsushita, known for its Panasonic brand, will sell mobile phones using the EPOC operating system in Japan in the first half of next year, Kawada said.
Logical Linkage:
Symbian earlier this year announced that it is working closely with Japan's NTT DoCoMo, the world's largest network operator. The companies are developing designs for wireless devices based on the next-generation telecommunications standard, W-CDMA or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access. The first handsets to use W-CDMA will be sold in Japan.
Symbian's moves in Japan "make a lot of sense," said Makio Inui, telecoms analyst at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney. "Of all the companies selling mobile phones here, NTT DoCoMo is Matsushita Communication's best customer."
Symbian clearly sees its foothold in Japan as another giant step along a global path stretching far into the future.
"The addition of Matsushita Communication," said Symbian CEO Colly Myers, "demonstrates that this wireless economy will be global. We will continue to strengthen our partnerships by licensing EPOC to all wireless device manufacturers."
Unfinished battle for a brave new world:
But even as it foments a revolution in handset technology, Symbian can not yet claim the upperhand against Microsoft.
Microsoft earlier this year signed a non-exclusive joint venture with British Telecommunications Plc (BTY: news, msgs) to develop Internet and corporate data services for mobile phone customers.
"The wireless market is still pretty much in the incubation stage, for the devices as well as the software that drives them," said Inui of Nikko Salomon Smith Barney.
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