During the first quarter, Symbian licensees shipped 15.9 million devices based on the operating system, bringing the cumulative total shipments to 126 million.

On Wednesday, Symbian said that 14 new smartphone models began shipping during the quarter, of which 12 models were 3G enabled and eight models were for the Japanese market.

The company also announced the latest evolution of its operating system, Symbian OS v9.5, which brings high performance features designed for richer consumer and enterprise experiences.

Symbian OS v9.5 has features improved synchronisation and support for a large number of contacts using a SQL database. In addition, seamless multi-tasking, uninterrupted VoIP, and automatic switching between 3G and wifi are part of the package.

The company said its revenues increased from Eur38.8m in the first quarter of last year to Eur41.3m. Symbian earns an average royalty rate of $4.5 per unit, compared to $5.4 in the year ago period.