Nokia and Xiaomi sign patent deal; to explore IoT, AI, and VR together

Nokia and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi have signed a patent licensing agreement including a cross-license to each company's cellular standard patents, which will help both companies develop new products. Nokia will provide network infrastructure equipment to Xiaomi. The two firms will also work together on technologies focused on the data center.

"Xiaomi is one of the world's leading smartphone manufacturers and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with them," said Rajeev Suri, President & CEO of Nokia. "In addition to welcoming such a prominent global technology company to our family of patent licensees, we look forward to working together on a wide range of strategic projects."

As per the agreement announced earlier today, Nokia and Xiaomi will work together on optical transport solutions for data center interconnect, IP Routing based on Nokia's newly announced FP4 network processor, and a data center fabric solution. Both the companies will also explore opportunities for further cooperation, in areas such as Internet of Things, Augmented and Virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.

"As a company seeking to deliver more exciting technological innovations to the world, we are excited at the opportunity to work more closely with Nokia in future," said Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi. "Our collaboration with Nokia will enable us to tap on its leadership in building large, high performance networks and formidable strength in software and services, as we seek to create even more remarkable products and services that deliver the best user experience to our Mi fans worldwide." Jun added.

Nokia has license deals with leading handset makers Apple and Samsung Electronics, but the agreement with Xiaomi is the Finnish company's first with a Chinese phone maker. The Finnish company has been a key player in developing many of the standards used by the mobile industry even today and makes money from licensing the patents it has built up over the years.