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Nokia Sells Qt

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yeah-who-needs-it dept.

Google85 writes "Now that Nokia has shifted to a Windows Phone-centric smartphone strategy, it's only natural for the company to divest itself of responsibility with regard to the Qt framework. It has been announced Digia will acquire the Qt commercial licensing and services business from Nokia, including the transfer of some 3,500 desktop and embedded customers actively using Qt today."

8 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. So much for plan B... by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I guess they are really going "all in" on Windows mobile. Kinda risky making your entire company totally dependent on a single outside vendor with a track record for not caring about partners.

    1. Re:So much for plan B... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      One of capitalism's many problems is that corporations are run by capitalistic humans, and such humans concern themselves by definition with rational self-interest.

      The huge bonus from completing a deal which is extremely risky in the long term ('sup banking crisis?) mean that any fallout will be of no consequence to those responsible for completing the deal.

      It doesn't matter that history has shown over and over that Microsoft are consistent and excellent at assassinating their bedfellows. All that matters is the temporary boost that will make a few people rich enough to enjoy a dozen good retirements.

    2. Re:So much for plan B... by Stumbles · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sounds like another Novell/SCO is in the works 5 years down the line with Digia taking over the SCOfud. SCO tried to make great hay that no one sells a business without copyrights. Unsurprisingly, this proves SCO to BE WRONG.

      --
      My karma is not a Chameleon.
    3. Re:So much for plan B... by erroneus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's way too predictable. The person in charge of Nokia has a LOT of Microsoft stock and no Nokia stock, or so I've read. It was this that upset Nokia employees the most -- it was clear from the beginning where this person's interests would lie. And so now it is all coming to pass.

      And it's not like Microsoft's previous dealings with phone makers were resulted in anything better. I seem to recall a story from years ago when Microsoft was initially trying to get a phone making partner to work with them -- all (including and especially Nokia) refused Microsoft with the exception of a company called "Orange" who thought they had a really good deal. Turned out that Microsoft created a deal with them that said if they missed certain deadlines, that everything they worked on "belonged to Microsoft" or something like that.... and it didn't matter if Microsoft was the reason for the missed deadlines which was reportedly the case. Microsoft essentially foreclosed on the Orange deal and collected all the IP from the project leaving Orange holding the bag.

      A quick Google search shows that Orange and Microsoft are still dealing with one another... sad that they didn't learn their lesson... and that fewer are learning from history.

    4. Re:So much for plan B... by 1s44c · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I guess they are really going "all in" on Windows mobile. Kinda risky making your entire company totally dependent on a single outside vendor with a track record for not caring about partners.

      'Kinda risky' is putting it mildly. Watching Nokia is like watching an alcoholic drinking themselves to death. It's tragic.

    5. Re:So much for plan B... by DrXym · · Score: 4, Insightful

      'Kinda risky' is putting it mildly. Watching Nokia is like watching an alcoholic drinking themselves to death. It's tragic.

      I doubt it's death, so much as transformation. Before the announcement Nokia was an innovator producing distinct hardware & software. After the announcement they become one of Microsoft's bitches pumping out handsets which are substantially similar to the likes coming out from LG / Samsung / HTC. Perhaps it's cheaper to do, but at the end of the day Nokia's brand will be severely tarnished.

      It's also worth noting that Nokia is the only manufacturer to bet the farm on a single phone OS vendor. LG, Samsung and HTC all have their fingers in many pies (e.g. WP7, Android, Bada, Brew). It seems like a good way to hedge if the WP7 ship sinks which is entirely possible.

    6. Re:So much for plan B... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But I'm a KDE user you insensitive clod!

  2. Re:Nokia did not sell Qt by jrumney · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So let me get this straight. They're no longer making phones that will use Qt. They no longer have a financial interest in other companies adopting Qt for use in closed source products. They are still letting their developers work on Qt on company time. Exactly how long do you think they are going to maintain this state of affairs, given the time that elapsed between the announcement of the adoption of Windows Phone 7 ("but don't worry, we're not abandoning Qt") and this announcement?