When you’re a company that makes revenues almost exclusively from the sale of mobile handsets, whoring of patents aside, then you take counterfeit hardware pretty seriously. In China it’s really easy to find a Nokia clone, powered by a MediaTek chipset, running some local operating system that most users in the region have no problem using. That is why today Nokia has announced that they’re teaming up with SAP and Giesecke & Devrient to start a new company called “Original1” by the end of the year, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, to deal with the problem.
Full Press Release after the jump. Emphasis added by yours truly.
Vienna, Austria – Oct. 27, 2009. SAP, Nokia and Giesecke & Devrient today have announced plans to form a new company, named “Original1,” to deliver unique product authentication and anti-counterfeiting services across the globe. These services will be aimed at protecting companies and consumers in a wide range of industries from product piracy and counterfeiting, thereby maintaining brand values, revenue potentials and profitability of branded goods. Original1 will be headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and headed by Claudia Alsdorf, currently vice president of SAP Research. The new company is expected to begin operations before the end of 2009, subject to the approval of the responsible anti-trust authorities. The announcement was made at SAP TechED 2009, being held October 27-29 in Vienna, Austria.
“Counterfeiting is a worldwide problem that is increasing and affecting many successful companies in all industries,” said Alsdorf. “Today, more than ever, companies need to combat counterfeiting before it’s too late, when their company livelihood is at stake. Original1 will provide a one-stop shop for companies seeking secure services that protect them from counterfeiting, safeguard the value of their brands, and help them develop a more transparent way of working to become more sustainable.”
Original1’s services will rely on SAP technology and solutions, while Nokia will deliver mobile authentication software to allow businesses to follow a branded product’s entire life cycle, from a factory to the end customer, using mobile devices. G&D’s contribution to Original1 will consist of security solutions for the entire value chain. This comprises user authentication, end-to-end encryption of the information flow and database encryption. The solution covers the complete sales and logistic supply chain by protecting products and related product packaging by tagging them with intelligent, tamper-proof serialized product codes.
“We see a big business opportunity in brand protection services,” said Antti-Jussi Suominen, general manager, Commerce, Corporate Development, Nokia. “Nokia started a mobile phone-based product authentication business program in 2006; this joint venture is a logical step in evolving that business. We will provide Original1 with the mobility expertise and related technology and believe that mobility will bring a totally new paradigm to brand protection.”
“The brand protection system relies on the trust, customer and companies have in it,” said Dr. Kai Grassie, group senior vice president and head of the New Business division, G&D. “Giesecke & Devrient is a partner of trust for government authorities and companies with special security requirements. This comprises areas like banknote printing and processing, as well as security products and services for the mobile communication, payment and the IT security industry. G&D will contribute its extensive expertise in high-level security technology to Original1.”