Much has been said lately about the close relationship between Nokia and Xiaomi in the last times. Beyond the plans that Nokia has to integrate a Xiaomi processor in their mobiles, recently the Finnish brand has announced a collaboration agreement between both companies as far as patent work is concerned.
This is how we can read it in a press release that has been published by Nokia through its own website. In it, the Nordic company sheds light on the understanding with Xiaomi and explains that the deal will have valid for several years and that it will affect patents of both one and another company. The agreement between the Finns and the Asians comes a month after Nokia's deal with Apple that ended the legal battle between the two companies.
Once the agreement between both brands is published, what is known for sure is that the deal includes patents related to mobile telephony and not to other business areas of either company. As a result of the transaction carried out, Xiaomi has kept a part of the old patents owned by Nokia and the Finnish technology giant has won a contract to provide network and infrastructure services to the Chinese brand. Regarding communications, augmented reality, virtual and artificial intelligence, both companies will work together, joining forces for common development.
However, it has not been made public at any time which patents have entered the deal between the two companies and which are the ones that Xiaomi has specifically kept. Neither party to the agreement has wanted to give information about it or any type of relative information. However, the CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, tells in his company's statement that there is a long-term strategy that it is based on agreements with global manufacturers and that this has not started with the signing that has been carried out with Nokia. The Chinese company has already signed an agreement with Microsoft very similar to the one it has signed, a priori, with Nokia. In him too there was an exchange of patents; Specifically, about 1500 that were the ones that Xiaomi stayed with from Microsoft.
From this point on, what we have to do is wait to see what each company makes clear as a result of the signed agreement. It will be very interesting to see the line that each one follows in the market and if the deal affects their strategies at all. The main objective of the Chinese brand with this series of agreements may be to clarify a little more the unclear field of patents, which has been a headache for the Asian company when planning its expansion. It must be remembered that in this regard, Xiaomi has encountered problems with Ericsson and other companies and that the international expansion of the company encountered serious problems and barriers to selling its products in countries where it did not yet have a presence.
Another aspect of this agreement signed between Nokia and XIaomi may lead the Finnish brand to reinforce certain manufacturing lines for its devices. The CEO of Nokia, like that of Xiaomi, does not specify what they will take as a benefit of the signed agreement. However, Raajev Suri does speak openly of a "welcoming a great global technology company to his family of licenses and patents." The Nordic company has decided get back on track with the manufacture and sale of smartphones and they also acquired the Withings company in 2016, so the agreement that they now sign with Xiaomi could serve as a reinforcement for this or other extensions that Nokia has planned.
Nokia struggles to sit back at the table where the big mobile manufacturers eat.