With 100 million Symbian smartphones shipped to over 250 network operators worldwide since Symbian’s formation, today Symbian reached an important milestone.
“Hitting the 100 million mark with over 100 different models currently shipping from 10 leading handset vendors is a phenomenal achievement for Symbian and a strong indication that more and more people are embracing the smartphone lifestyle. However, we are still at the beginning of a technology revolution that will change peoples’ lives profoundly,” said Nigel Clifford, CEO, Symbian.
Total Symbian smartphone models shipping at end Q3
| End Q3 2006 | End Q2 2006 | |
| Number of Symbian smartphone models in the market | 106 | 86 |
| Number of licensees with Symbian smartphones in the market | 10 | 10 |
| Number of Symbian smartphone models in development | 49 | 55 |
| Number of licensees with Symbian smartphones in development | 8 | 8 |
Competition
To celebrate reaching its 100 millionth smartphone shipment and to kick-start the development of the next 100 million phones, Symbian is launching its first coding competition — Symbian Hundred Million Phones: Because of the Code.
Because of the Code is open to all Symbian software developers around the world and involves submitting 100 lines of Symbian C++ code. The competition will run from 16 November to 7 January 2007 and the authors of the top 100 code samples will be awarded the “one-in-100-million” prize, worth over 750 GBP and which includes: a Symbian smartphone, a free Accredited Symbian Developer exam sitting, a Symbian Signed test-run, two Symbian books, an invitation to the Symbian party at 3GSM and a Symbian bag of gifts.
Non-developers can also join in the celebration with the Symbian Hundred Million Phones quiz for a chance to win one of three Symbian smartphones. The quiz will be available online from 16 November to 16 December and participants who answer the questions correctly will automatically be entered into the free prize draw.
Further details: 100M sub-site, press release.
UPDATE: Webcast in RealPlayer and Windows Media formats is now available.