Newkia aims to rise from Nokia's ashes on Android wings
Singapore-based Newkia was formed the day the $7.2 billion Microsoft-Nokia deal was announced, with the goal of acquiring Nokia employees and know-how.
SINGAPORE -- Nokia's fate would have been a lot different today if it had taken the Android route, and this is what a freshly minted company -- aptly named Newkia -- plans to do by acquiring as much of Nokia's know-how as possible.
It's an opportunity opened up by Microsoft's planned $7.2 billion deal, announced earlier this week, to buy out Windows Phone maker Nokia's devices and services unit.
"We set up Newkia literally the day Nokia sold its phone business to Microsoft," Thomas Zilliacus, executive chairman and founder of investment company Mobile FutureWorks, told CNET sister site ZDNet in an interview Thursday. "It was the day Nokia died in Finland, and the new Nokia was born in Newkia. I know Nokia employees who are keen to develop for Android and maybe would like to join us."
He has already gathered a team of former Nokia employees and is hoping to acquire more with expertise across the entire value chain, from smartphone design to logistics to manufacturing. While the company will be based in Singapore, Newkia plans for its core R&D team to be in Finland.
Zilliacus spent over 15 years as a Nokia employee, including seven as Asia-Pacific CEO. He left in 1993 but spent another three years under Nokia's payroll as a regional consultant. A year ago, he tried to buy out Nokia was unable to raise enough funds.
This post has been adapted and much condensed from the original ZDNet post, Nokia is dead, Newkia rises from its ashes."