Comments From Leading Symbian Shareholders on the New Financing Agreement
Symbian Press Release 07/07/04
Karl-Henrik Sundström, Chief Financial Officer, Ericsson said:
"As a founder of Symbian, we are pleased that the independent future of Symbian has been secured by a broad participation among existing shareholders in the pre-emption round, the decision to appoint an independent non-executive Chairman as well as a substantial fund-raising round. Our participation in Symbian will continue with Ericsson's participation rights taken up with a substantial investment by our joint venture Sony Ericsson."
Matti Alahuhta, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Nokia said:
“Nokia has been working actively to ensure Symbian’s long term success and leadership in the global mobile OS market. Smart phones are heading towards accelerated growth and strong competition. The successful completion of pre-emption with additional funding – both of which Nokia has encouraged all Shareholders to participate in – will provide Symbian with the means to meet this next phase of growth. The broad and unified shareholder commitment shown today is the best evidence of Symbian’s ability to support demanding needs of the industry today and in the future.”
Yoshiaki Kushiki, President, Panasonic Mobile Communications Ltd., said:
“Panasonic's decision to exercise its full pre-emption rights in respect of the Psion shares evidences its firm commitment to the independence of Symbian. Maintaining such independence through a broad, balanced shareholding base is critical if the Symbian OS is to remain the de facto standard in the mobile phone industry and continue to win the support and loyalty of a broad spectrum of manufacturers and network operators.
Panasonic strongly believes that discussions regarding such pre-emption process and the new round of funding have served to deepen the mutual understanding and relationships among the shareholders, resulting in a common direction for the future of Symbian. Panasonic welcomes the co-operation of the shareholders who participated in the pre-emption process and new funding, and will continue to support Symbian.”
Dale Sohn, Vice President, Outsourcing and Alliances, Samsung Electronics, said:
“Samsung is pleased that all Symbian’s shareholders have reached a new agreement on the funding of, and shareholdings in Symbian. Samsung looks forward to continuing to work with Symbian on forthcoming 2.5G and 3G products.”
Rudi Lamprecht, Member of the Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Mobile said:
"The smartphone market is quickly growing. We estimate that by 2008 a quarter of all mobile devices sold will be smartphones. Smartphones offer the flexibility that allows the greatest variety of data applications. These applications thrive best in an open environment the way Symbian OS and its worldwide developer community is offering it. That is why Symbian and its open platform is an essential part of our smartphone strategy."
John-Peter Leesi, Chief Financial Officer Sony Ericsson said:
“We are pleased to see the broad participation of Symbian’s shareholders in the pre-emption of Psion’s shares and the Symbian rights issue. By maintaining Symbian as an independent company, we can build on the strong momentum for Symbian and facilitate further adoption of Symbian OS. For Sony Ericsson, basing our line of smartphones on Symbian OS has proven successful, as consumers, application developers and mobile operators alike are appreciative of the ease-of-use, application openness, and customization capability that Symbian-based smartphones provide.”
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