Finland-based Jolla on Tuesday announced that to focus on the licensing
and development of its Sailfish OS, it is splitting into two companies.
Jolla says a new company will be formed to handle the firm's own device
business.
In a press statement, Jolla stressed that it will concentrate on the development and
licensing business of the open mobile OS, the Sailfish OS. "A new
company will be established to continue Jolla's device business, where
the company sees a specific interest from privacy-aware consumers and
corporations around the world," notes Jolla. The new mobile business
unit is expected to be announced after summer.
The company
alongside also announced management changes which will see Antti
Saarnio, Chairman of Board of Jolla taking charge of leading Jolla.
Meanwhile, Tomi Pienimaki, former CEO, has been appointed to a new
position outside the company and will take charge in August. The company
revealed that a new head of Jolla devices business will be appointed
during autumn.
Additionally, Jolla revealed that the company is
working hard to meet the first shipments of the Jolla Tablet to its
Indiegogo crowdfunding
contributors. "The software (Sailfish OS) part of the work is in good
shape but we have been slowed down by supply issues of certain hardware
components. We expect to solve this issue very soon," said Saarnio.
Commenting
on the announcement, Antti Saarnio said, "Every young company has to
find its clear focus at some time, and for Jolla that time is now. We
have huge opportunities in the Sailfish OS licensing business, and I am
very proud and excited to take responsibility of steering the Jolla ship
to a new commercial phase. After three years of intensive Sailfish OS
research & development we are now moving full speed to new bigger
waters, which require full focus on software from the team."
The
company will be present at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai next week
to showcase progress in the Sailfish OS licensing business. There has
been interest shown in the recent past around the Sailfish OS, with
Russia planning on a customised version of the operating system to help reduce the reliance on the
potentially-unsafe Android and iOS. Russia's Yota Devices was recently
reported to be considering offering future devices with Sailfish OS. It
notably features
Android app compatibility.
While talking to TechCrunch, Saarnio
revealed
the company is "committed" to build new devices. He however explained
some limitations and said, "There's a limitation that the company is
not yet established so there's a plan to start producing it. I
personally believe they will start producing smart hardware, smartphones
or smart devices, in the future. That's the plan and the intention."
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