Symbian Handset Shipments GOing up

[Barry]

Symbian said shipments of handsets running its software rose 58 percent in the second quarter 2006 and they were profitable. Symbian software was used in 12.3 million phones, up from 7.8 million in the second quarter of 2005.

Growth slowed from the first quarter, when shipments increased 73 percent. The average royalty rate per phone was higher, however, and revenues from phone sales rose 74 percent to 37.9 million pounds ($71.7 million).

Symbian in May had predicted that growth in shipments would continue around 75 percent for the next two years. The company expects a boost in shipments from the current quarter as a result of a new licensing model from July 1, which provides lower royalty rates. Total revenues, including consulting services and partnering income rose to 41.2 million pounds from 26.8 million in the second quarter of 2005.

Nokia, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson are the main shareholders of the closely held company with 76.6 percent between the three of them. Other shareholders are Panasonic, Samsung and Siemens.

Symbian, whose market share of the smartphone market is estimated between 65 and 70 percent by analysts, said 86 different Symbian-powered phones were on the market by the end of the second quarter from 10 different vendors, up from 66 models a year earlier.

The cheap open-source software from Linux is also popular by handset makers. Nokia generated around 70 percent of Symbian sales, while around 28 percent of sales were generated in Japan alone, Clifford said.

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