Nokia Corp., once king of the handset world, has been going through a tumultuous period as of late. Stephen Elop, who took over the CEO position last year after his predecessor Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was unceremoniously booted out for failing to maintain the Finnish manufacturer’s competitive edge, has made some aggressive changes.
Under Elop’s leadership the company has abandoned MeeGo, Nokia’s next smartphone operating system, and inked a deal with the new CEO’s former employer Microsoft Corp. to use their Windows Phone 7 OS in all upcoming smartphones. Along the way there have also been several rounds of job cuts, including the re-homing of the Symbian development team.
There was another blow for Nokia yesterday as research firm Nomura predicted they would lose their crown as the most prolific manufacturer of smartphones to Samsung after a 16 year stretch in the top spot.
Today, however, brings better news for the gang in Espoo with the settlement of a patent suit they have been fighting with Apple Inc. for the last year relating to “technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space.”
Although the exact figures involved are … of course … confidential, the terms of the settlement state Apple will pay Nokia a lump sum now, as well as a continuing license fee for use of their patents. Elop said of the deal:
“We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees. This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.”
Nokia were also quick to point out that the additional income from the deal will help their sorry-looking bottom line.
