Jolla signs agreement with D.Phone, China’s largest phone retailer

Jolla, a small startup company founded by former Nokia employees who worked on Maemo/MeeGo and who want to bring their own device to market, announced its first major deal today, a distribution agreement with China's largest mobile phone retaile, the D.Phone Group, that has more than 2,000 retail stores in the country.

According to this press release, the D.Phone Group will "start sales and distribution of Jolla smartphones in China". The company's CEO, Donhai Liu said in the press release: "We see great potential for Jolla as a new player in the Chinese smartphone market with Jolla’s fresh and unique user experience. Together with Jolla our aim is to reach significant sales volumes."

Jolla was founded last year by former Nokia employees, following Nokia's announcement of its partnership with Microsoft on Windows Phone, which resulted in the company's cancellation of its MeeGo efforts. However, Nokia has partnered with Jolla through its Bridge program, which gives departing employees funding, training and support for their new ventures.