Goodnight, sweet prince! Nokia set to end Symbian's suffering this summer

Nokia will halt shipments of handsets bearing the self-built Symbian operating system sometime this summer, according to reports on Wednesday.

AllThingsD brings word from sources that the dying embers of the old faithful OS will be soon be extinguished and the remaining handsets will only be sold in emerging markets to deplete stockpiles.

While that might take a little while, there's still a demand for some of the low cost handsets in some parts of the world, where Nokia does good business.

The decision will bring to an end a slow painful death for the OS, which has been considered hugely dated by most observers (barring a section of hardcore Nokia fans) since the iOS and Android platforms took over years ago.

Fitting end

An end for Symbian would, of course, mean that Nokia's fate would be completely bound to that of Windows Phone.

The company has built some high quality handsets bearing Microsoft's mobile operating system, but sales have not reflected the critical acclaim devices like the Lumia 920 have received.

The company stopped short of confirming the reports, but did say the Nokia 808 Pureview handset, the last Symbian handset the company produced, would be a fitting end for the once-beloved system.

"We can't confirm when Symbian shipments come to an end, unfortunately," a Nokia spokesperson said.

"In general, though, regarding Symbian, the last Symbian phone we introduced was the Nokia 808 PureView, and that's fitting. This phone extended the platform's pioneering tradition, and acted as a bridge for the next wave of innovation now seen in our latest models, like the Lumia 925."