Editing Symbian Software (section)

{{short description|Software development company}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox company 
| name = Symbian Software Ltd.
| logo = Symbian logo.svg
| type = [[Private company limited by shares]]
| industry = [[Software]], business services
| predecessor = [[Psion (company)|Psion]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|1998}}<!-- If known, add |mm|dd|df=yes -->
| defunct = {{End date and age|2008|12|02|df=yes}}
| fate = Acquired by [[Nokia]]
| successor = [[Symbian Foundation]] (2008–2011)
| hq_location_city = [[Southwark]], [[London]]
| hq_location_country = England
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = Juha Christensen, [[Colly Myers]], [[David Levin (businessman)|David Levin]], [[Nigel Clifford]]
| products = [[Symbian OS]]
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 1,178 (2007)
| parent = 
| subsid = [[UIQ Technology]] (until 2007)
| footnotes =
| website =
}}

'''Symbian Ltd.''' was a [[software development]] and licensing consortium company, known for the [[Symbian]] [[operating system]] (OS), for [[smartphone]]s and some related devices.<ref name='BusinessWeek'>{{cite magazine |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1546771 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018020156/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1546771 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2007 |title=Symbian Ltd |access-date=26 July 2009 |magazine=[[BusinessWeek]]}}</ref> Its headquarters were in [[Southwark]], [[London]], [[England]], with other offices opened in [[Cambridge]], [[Sweden]], [[Silicon Valley]], [[Japan]], [[India]], [[China]], South Korea, and Australia.

It was established on 24 June 1998 as a partnership between [[Psion (company)|Psion]], [[Nokia]], [[Ericsson]], [[Motorola]], and [[Sony]], to exploit the convergence between [[personal digital assistant]]s (PDAs) and [[mobile phone]]s, and a joint-effort to prevent [[Microsoft]] from extending its [[desktop computer]] monopoly into the [[mobile device]]s market.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/24/andrew_on_symbian/ |title=Farewell then, Symbian |website=[[The Register]]}}</ref> Ten years to the day after it was established, on 24 June 2008, Nokia announced that they intended to acquire the shares that they did not own already, at a cost of €264 million.<ref name='Nokia 2008-06-24 Purchase'>{{cite web |url=http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1230415 |title=Nokia to acquire Symbian Limited to enable evolution of the leading open mobile platform |access-date=26 July 2009 |date=24 June 2008 |publisher=Nokia}}</ref> On the same day the [[Symbian Foundation]] was announced, with the aim to "provide royalty-free software and accelerate innovation",<ref name='Nokia 2008-06-24 Symbian'>{{cite web |url=http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1230416 |title=Mobile leaders to unify the Symbian software platform and set the future of mobile free |access-date=26 July 2009 |date=24 June 2008 |publisher=Nokia}}</ref> and the pledged contribution of the Symbian OS and user interfaces.

The acquisition of Symbian Ltd. by Nokia was completed on 2 December 2008,<ref name='Nokia 2008-12-02'>{{cite web |url=http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2008/12/02/nokia-acquires-symbian-limited |title=Nokia acquires Symbian Limited |access-date=10 June 2015 |publisher=Nokia}}</ref> at which point all Symbian employees became Nokia employees. Transfer of relevant Symbian Software Ltd. leases, [[trademark]]s, and [[domain name]]s from Nokia to the Symbian Foundation was completed in April 2009.<ref name='Symbian Blog 2009-04-02'>{{cite web |url=http://blog.symbian.org/2009/04/02/can-you-feel-it/ |title=Can you feel it? |access-date=26 July 2009 |date=2 April 2009 |work=Symbian Blog |publisher=Symbian Foundation}}</ref> On 18 July 2009, Nokia's Symbian professional services department, which was not transferred to the [[Symbian Foundation]], was sold to the [[Accenture]] [[Information technology consulting|consulting]] company.<ref name='Reuters 2009-07-17'>{{cite news |first=Georgina |last=Prodhan |date=17 July 2009 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLH7690720090717 |title=Accenture to buy Symbian services unit from Nokia |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=26 July 2009}}</ref>