Published in Mobiles

Nokia signs licensing deal with Huawei

by on21 December 2017


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The former maker of rubber boots, Nokia, has signed a multi-year smartphone patent license deal with China’s Huawei, completing its list of agreements with the world’s largest handset makers and sending its share price up.

The companies did not provide financial details of the agreement, but Nokia said it would start booking revenue, including  a one off catch-up payment, from the fourth quarter. Nokia has recently struck licensing deals with handset makers including Apple, Samsung Electronics, LG and Xiaomi.

More than 90 percent of Nokia’s revenue comes from telecoms network equipment, but the licensing payments are highly profitable amid an industry-wide slump in the network business. Nokia’s shares rose 2.7 percent on the news.

The phone licensing cash will help Nokia as it tries to navigate the choppy waters of networking.

He said revenue from the Huawei deal would be smaller than from Apple, which is estimated to be around $297 million a year.

Nokia built up its catalogue of patents in the days when the company dominated the mobile handset business. It covers technology that reduces the need for hardware components in a phone, conserves battery life and increases radio reception, among other features.

Last modified on 21 December 2017
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