Nokia And Xiaomi Join Forces: Global Mobile Incoming

Two power teams of mobile device creators have joined forces this week: Xiaomi and Nokia. Nokia is a legendary mobile phone maker that's gone through some unprecedented changes over the last few years. Xiaomi is still a relative up-and-comer in the business, based in China and set to expand across the whole earth with their high-quality low-cost devices.

It's the details of this deal that make its potential great. This isn't just a business deal to trade access to equipment. Instead, Xiaomi and Nokia will be sharing knowhow and patents, too – and there's more. They'll be making products together in the future – devices in several markets!

The transaction covers – first – a cross license to each company's cellular standard essential patents. They're in business together now, even with this alone as a base of operations. This business deal between Xiaomi and Nokia is both a multi-year patent agreement and a business collaboration agreement. Also involved is Xiaomi's acquisition of patent assets separate from the cross license agreement. Sound familiar?

The business collaboration agreement includes Nokia providing network infrastructure equipment to Xiaomi. It also includes the two working together on FP4 network processor-based IP Routing, datacenter interconnect, and a a data center fabric solution. Networking with these technologies will further enable Xiaomi to be a global brand – working with Nokia's patents will allow them to enter a load of new markets worldwide.

The most mysterious bit about this new agreement is the following sentence. "In addition, the companies have agreed to explore opportunities for further cooperation, in areas such as Internet of Things, augmented and virtual reality, and artificial intelligence." That means devices – hardware – and the possibility of both with Xiaomi X Nokia cross-brand opportunities.