Nokia Buys Operating System Vendor Smarterphone AS

The Finnish cellphone manufacturer Nokia has bought Norwegian firm Smarterphone AS, which has developed the Smarterphone OS.

Smarterphone AS formerly known as Kvaleberg AS is a portfolio company of Fred Capital. Smarterphone is well-known for designing operating system with highly advanced functions and moderate hardware requirement for feature phones. The acquisition that resulted in November last year is seen as Nokia's step to focus on its low-end Software phones. According to analysts, the mid-range Symbian 40 phones from Nokia are too basic to compete against Samsung, LG, or Micromax smartphones priced below Rs. 5000.

There's a speculation that Smarterphone OS will even replace Symbian 30 phones, but there's no official word from Nokia about the acquisition or its future strategy.