MWC 2017 | Jolla to develop a mobile OS for China

Although we might not see any new Jolla-branded devices anytime soon, the company behind one of the few alternative mobile operating systems still being developed might have a bright future waiting for it in China. With Firefox OS now gone for good, it is great to see that Sailfish OS is still afloat and might begin to grow soon as well.

According to Jolla chairman Antti Sarrnio who spoke to TechCrunch ahead of a press conference held in Barcelona, "We are discussing with very big players joining in. We are not granting this [exclusive] licence for small businesses — it’s some very big Chinese players joining this. They have both the financial and other resources to scale the operating system in China."

The Chinese consortium that Jolla teamed up with aims to invest $250 million in developing an ecosystem based on Sailfish for China. For now, there are still some details missing - who is exactly backing up this effort and over what timeframe is this investment expected to take place.

Helsinki-based Jolla announced its plans to create a Sailfish ecosystem for China back in 2012 and it took them a lot of time to be taken seriously by the local investors. However, the company is on the right path now - Russia certified Sailfish OS for government and corporate use back in November.