Symbian Foundation Faces Possible Closure

The Symbian Foundation, which oversees development of the open source mobile operating system is in doubt, following the resignation of CEO Lee Williams. But Symbian critics say Nokia-dominated Symbian will be better off without the Foundation.

In 2008, Nokia announced Symbian would be open source, under the Foundation. Two years later, though Symbian still powers the greater part of the world’s smartphones, Nokia is ending Symbian’s use on its high-end N-series smartphones giving it an inferior status as it shifts towards developing for the Qt cross platform GUI and MeeGo.

Symbian supporters slip away

Former Symbian stalwarts Sony Ericsson and Samsung have also been backing away, leaving Fujitsu and a few lesser-known companies as the final supporters alongside remaining Nokia support.

Now the word has spread that CFO Tim Holbrow, standing in as Williams’ replacement, may be planning to wind-up the Foundation in April 2011.

Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, feels that the end of the Foundation is inevitable but draws a line between that and any engame for Symbian. In the past, Jones has likened the Symbian Foundation to the Titanic’s crew.

“The existence (or otherwise) of the Symbian Foundation is a separate issue to the continued existence of Symbian,” he said. “Nokia needs its own platform and has at least one more opportunity to make Symbian a leading competitive experience.

“If this hasn’t happened by mid next year then Nokia will be in deep trouble, but I’m still betting they can do it; especially if Steve Elop [Nokia’s CEO] provides the necessary motivation and resources.”

Whether Elop, an ex-Microsoft executive, will smile as favourably on Symbian as his predecessor is debateable. His brief is to help Nokia crack the elusive, and more parochial, US market so his inclination may be towards a Stateside OS like Android or, given his pedigree, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.

The effect on the Foundation’s income must have been immense. Even though Nokia is its main source of income, the flow of cash from Sony Ericsson and Samsung will be sorely missed. Williams’ resignation would appear to confirm his frustration at Symbian’s moribund state.

“Nokia doesn’t own the Foundation and as such can’t close it unilaterally. But I guess they can cease to support it financially which would be much the same thing. And Symbian could still remain an open source product even without the Foundation,” Jones said. “But the Foundation is a brake on Nokia, and if it vanished tomorrow I’d immediately become more optimistic about Symbian’s chances of long term success.”

All eyes will turn to the Symbian Exchange & Exposition 2010 (SEE 2010) in Amsterdam on November 9-10 for positive signs, concluded Jones.