Nokia sells Qt business to Digia

Nokia has agreed to sell its Qt commercial licensing and services business to Finland-based developer Digia. The deal sees Digia taking over around 3,500 customers using Qt for developing desktop and embedded applications in various industries. Nokia acquired much of the business when it bought Norwegian company Trolltech in 2008. Since the handset maker's agreement with Microsoft to adopt the Windows mobile platform for its smartphones, the Linux-based Qt platform was expected to play less of a role in its mobile software development. As part of the agreement, a total 19 employees from Nokia technical consulting services and Qt commercial sales and marketing will transfer to Digia; they will remain based at sites in Norway and the US. Nokia said it will continue to invest in developing Qt as a cross-platform framework for mobile, desktop and embedded segments, including support for the MeeGo community using Qt. Digia will focus on driving the commercial licensing and services business around Qt, adding support for commercial applications not on the previous Nokia roadmap. Experienced in Qt development since 2000, Digia said it will emphasize Qt in the desktop and embedded environments and examine new support models and functionality requests. Existing Qt commercial licence holders will be informed soon about the changes. No financial details of the agreement were released. Digia expects to close the deal by the end of this month.