Symbian handsets hit 10M in Japan

The number of cell phones in Japan using the Symbian operating system has hit 10 million, Symbian Ltd. said Wednesday.

That many licenses had been issued by the end of May to handset makers for cell phones destined for sale in Japan, the company said. The total is largely made up of phones that have already been sold but also includes those shipped to retailers and under production.

Despite Symbian's apparent success, you'll be lucky to find many users that know they are using the company's system.

Of the 35 models of handset sold with the Symbian OS in Japan since 2003, almost all are locked, and so users are deprived of one of the key benefits of owning a smartphone: the ability to install their own applications. Combine that with the absence of any Symbian branding and the result is that most owners are likely unaware that their phone runs Symbian.

Only three handsets allow users to install applications: the Motorola Inc. M1000 offered by NTT DoCoMo Inc., and Nokia's 6630 and 6680 offered by Vodafone KK.

Of the top-tier players in the Japan market, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic) and NEC Corp. are the only ones not offering Symbian-based phones. Panasonic is a shareholder in Symbian and uses the OS in models for overseas, but in Japan it and NEC both rely on Linux in their high-end handsets.