Symbian, after established an R&D center in August 2007 in Beijing, is expanding its R&D team in China, with the number of staff likely to reach 160 by the end of 2008 and further increase to 250-300 in 2009, according to market sources in China.

Consumers in China accounted for about 10% of the 77.3 million Symbian smartphones shipped to consumers worldwide in 2007, making China an increasingly important market for Symbian, the sources noted.

In addition, Symbian applications developed by developers in China currently account for one out of eight Symbian applications in use worldwide, the sources added.