Nokia’s Trolltech Grab Hurts Rivals

“At first glance, Nokia’s Jan. 28 purchase of a small Norwegian
open-source software company seems a confusing strategic shift.
After all, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones has long
resisted the idea of using the grassroots Linux operating system in
handsets, favoring instead homegrown software in its mass-market
models and the Symbian operating system in its top-of-the-line
smartphones.

“But analysts hailed the €104 million ($153 million)
acquisition of Oslo-based Trolltech as a kind of strategic hat
trick. In one stroke, Nokia has managed to defend itself against
incursions into the mobile-phone business by Apple and Google,
while potentially further accelerating the meltdown of rival
Motorola…”

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