Samsung buys 5% stake in Symbian

Samsung Electronics is taking a 5% stake in smartphone operating system software developer Symbian.

The company will pay £17m for the stake. Other shareholders in Symbian include Ericsson, Panasonic, Motorola, Nokia, Psion, Siemens and Sony.

Samsung began working on a smartphone based on the Symbian operating system early last year and this week unveiled the first working prototype and its new Oyster applications processor.

The electronics company already has products running on Symbian's main rivals: the Palm operating system and Microsoft's Windows-powered Smartphone and Pocket PC Phone Edition.