China's Xiaomi works with Nokia to continue its global expansion

World
Europe

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker, and Nokia, the former Finnish cellphone giant, signed a business collaboration agreement and a multi-year patent agreement, including a cross license to each company's cellular standard essential patents.

Xiaomi also acquired patent assets from Nokia as part of the transaction.

Representatives from Nokia (left) and Xiaomi on the signing ceremony on July 5, 2017. /Xiaomi Photo

Under the agreement, Nokia will provide network infrastructure equipment designed to deliver the high capacity, low power requirements expected by large web providers and data center operators.

The two tech giants will also 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.

"Xiaomi is one of the world's leading smartphone manufacturers and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with them," said Rajeev Suri, the president and CEO of Nokia.

Nokia's logo sits on display at their headquarters in Espoo, Finland, on September 10, 2010. /VCG Photo

Although this is not the first time for Nokia to have license deals with leading handset manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung, Xiaomi is the first Chinese smartphone company among these big names.

"Collaboration with Nokia will help Xiaomi with its global expansion, but it doesn't mean the company is focusing on one particular market," a Xiaomi spokesperson told CNBC.

The Beijing-based smartphone company's ambitions of exploring the world can be traced back to July 2014, when it entered India.

Wang Xiang, senior vice president of Xiaomi, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong, China, on June 26, 2017. /VCG Photo

Besides the south Asian country, Xiaomi also expanded its business into Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and some Middle Eastern countries.

The company is planning to march into the US market in 2019, Wang Xiang, Xiaomi's senior vice president told CNET this April.

Xiaomi and Nokia will keep exploring opportunities to cooperate in areas like the Internet of things, virtual reality, augmented realty and artificial intelligence, Xiaomi said in a statement released Wednesday.