Jolla Summer 2017: CEO’s Update

Dear Jolla fans and followers,

It’s been a busy first half of the year here at Jolla, and we’re working hard to get the big OS agenda moving forward.
We have positive progress and major future business potential with Sailfish openings e.g. in China and Russia. While these projects are big and take time, they’re developing steadily and we expect them to grow into sizable businesses for us overtime. These two are now our key customers but the projects are in early phase and our revenues are tight.  At the same time realizing this opportunity requires significant R&D investments from our licensing customers and Jolla.

Meanwhile, as Russia and China are progressing, we also have good traction with other new potential licensing customers in different regions. Good discussions are ongoing, and we’re waiting eagerly to get to share those with you.

At Jolla, we are still in an intensive R&D investment phase and very dependent on our investors who believe in our business model and future potential. Before the company turns positive from licensing revenues, the financial situation remains extremely focused and tight. As we know, developing a mobile OS is a huge task and investment, and it will take years to carry fruit. For reference, it took almost 1B€ and six years for Nokia and partners to bring MeeGo up and alive, and we’re pursuing the same path, although in quite a different way and style using the benefits of being small and agile compared to the big corporations.

Jolla Tablet refunds

It has been a while since our last update about the remaining Jolla Tablet refunds – we are committed to it and we will be progressing on it in a pace our financial situation permits us to do. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Thus, we have now decided to take a phased approach to the refund process and start executing refunds every month the company makes positive cash flow from its core business – the Sailfish OS licensing. We will start this process in July 2017, and move in a pace that fits our financial progress described above. This means that some of our tablet backers will get their refund earlier than others, which is unfortunately unavoidable in this situation. To make it fair for everyone we will start these refunds in a random order. Those random picked for the first run will receive an email from us to confirm all the needed details. You’ll also have an option to support the Sailfish OS movement simply by donating your remaining refund, if you so wish.

I can assure you that this topic has been painful for everyone of us here at Jolla. My apologies on the delayed process and thank you for your continued patience and support on this matter.

Shortly also about the Sony Xperia X project, as we realize many are waiting for news about it: we’re working on the project and we will update you next week about the next steps.

Big opportunities

As a summary, I can say that Jolla is currently in a very interesting situation and we have big opportunities in sight. We also have a vibrant and enthusiastic developer and fan community supporting us. Thank You! You are utmost important to us, and we hope to live up to your expectations. It takes time and a lot of effort but we’ll deliver.

Now, I wish everyone a great summertime! We will soon get back to the topics mentioned above.

Sincerely, your Jolla captain,
Sami

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