A Good Year for Symbian

Although Microsoft‘s convergence OS, Windows CE, and others have made inroads into the Symbian market share over time, the operating system still maintains its historic  position of dominance in the smartphone operating system market.

The number of units shipped running a version of the Symbian OS rose 4.5 million (compared to last year’s second quarter) to reach 12.3 million for the second quarter of this year. Royalties for the use of the operating system, mainly in Nokia phones, are what made up the bulk of the company’s revenue for the year.

With $41.2 million in gross revenue the $37.9 million gained in royalties from companies like Nokia was a necessity. Although Symbian is a privately held company that doesn’t disclose much financial information, it is widely known that the company is becoming more dependent upon royalties to make profits in light of the slow down in revenue coming from the company’s partnering and consultancy ventures.

Overall, 93 percent of the 3G smartphones being made today are running the symbian operating system. There are literally millions of third party developers and homebrew enthusiasts creating and tending to a vast library of compatible content. The availability of compatible software, along with the near bullet-proof level of stability possessed by the operating system itself contribute greatly to the popularity of the Symbian OS. Because of the stability and utility of the Symbian OS (and because of the lack of a viable alternative) the trend of growth that has taken hold at Symbian this year is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Although Microsoft‘s convergence OS, Windows CE, and others have made inroads into the Symbian market share over time, the operating system still maintains its historic  position of dominance in the smartphone operating system market.

The number of units shipped running a version of the Symbian OS rose 4.5 million (compared to last year’s second quarter) to reach 12.3 million for the second quarter of this year. Royalties for the use of the operating system, mainly in Nokia phones, are what made up the bulk of the company’s revenue for the year.

With $41.2 million in gross revenue the $37.9 million gained in royalties from companies like Nokia was a necessity. Although Symbian is a privately held company that doesn’t disclose much financial information, it is widely known that the company is becoming more dependent upon royalties to make profits in light of the slow down in revenue coming from the company’s partnering and consultancy ventures.

Overall, 93 percent of the 3G smartphones being made today are running the symbian operating system. There are literally millions of third party developers and homebrew enthusiasts creating and tending to a vast library of compatible content. The availability of compatible software, along with the near bullet-proof level of stability possessed by the operating system itself contribute greatly to the popularity of the Symbian OS. Because of the stability and utility of the Symbian OS (and because of the lack of a viable alternative) the trend of growth that has taken hold at Symbian this year is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.