Jolla, the startup built by the team behind the smartphone OS that Nokia abandoned in favor of Windows Phone, announced its first big carrier deal today with Finland’s DNA. They also gave a first look at the UI of Sailfish, the mobile operating system they’ve created from the remnants of Nokia’s MeeGo project, and released an SDK.
“We need to succeed in our home market in order to succeed in foreign markets as well,” said Sami Pienimäki, a vice president at the company. The company also said that it’s partnering with ST-Ericsson on chipsets for the phones.
The brave startup, which raised about 10 million euros in capital from a private consortium of investors, is hoping that it will ultimately find success in Asia, and more specifically, China. The Chinese market, which now has about 200 million smartphones in circulation, has been more hospitable to operating systems that aren’t iOS or the standard Google-endorsed flavor of Android. A number of Android variants like Xiaomi’s MIUI have flourished there and China has historically been one of Nokia’s strongholds. Jolla has signed a distribution deal with retailer D.Phone there and is also looking at direct-to-consumer sales online.
