Symbian has announced that Sony Ericsson and Sharp will be using the Symbian OS in their phones developed for the NTT DoCoMo FOMA network. Symbian OS is also used in Fujitsu existing FOMA phones, the Vodafone 702NK (6630 variant) and the first Motorola phone for the network is also announced as using Symbian OS. With this announcement Symbian tightens their hold on the lucrative Japanese high end market.

Press Release:
Sharp and Sony Ericsson Embrace Symbian OS to develop NTT DoCoMo FOMA™ mobile phones

TOKYO, Japan and LONDON, United Kingdom, 29 November 2004 – Symbian today announced that Sharp Corporation and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc. (SEMCJ) will use a Symbian OS-based software platform to develop NTT DoCoMo FOMA handsets. This joint development was announced by both companies today.



Sharp and SEMCJ will take NTT DoCoMo’s software platform licence, which uses the Symbian OSTM supplied by Symbian, and use it as the basis to co-develop new software for FOMA phones. Symbian OS has become the most popular and highly regarded smartphone OS in the world. This success has led to content developers creating a wide range of high quality and exciting applications for the operating system, further enhancing its appeal and enabling phone users to enjoy high-quality, multimedia and entertainment phones.[1]



The announcement follows recent news that NTT DoCoMo has selected Symbian OS as its common software platform for 3G FOMA handsets. http://www.symbian.com/press-office/2004/pr041119.html



Publicly announced Symbian OS-based phones in development for the Japanese 3G market include:

- the FOMA F901iC from the most advanced series of FOMA phones, the F901i series

- the Vodafone 702NK – the first Symbian OS phone for Vodafone KK; first Symbian OS phone from a non-Japanese vendor

- Motorola’s first phone for NTT DoCoMo is to use Symbian OS