Russian government will now only use phones with Sailfish OS

In the future, the Russian government will use the Finnish Sailfish OS as the only mobile platform for new smartphones. Jolla is also in talks with the governments in South Africa and China about a collaboration to develop software for government telephones.

Jolla has licensed Sailfish OS to Open Mobile Platform, a Russian company that will focus Sailfish OS on the Russian target group. It does this, for example, by seeking cooperation with local developers, says the Finnish company.

In the future, Russian government services and state-owned companies will only use phones with Sailfish OS. The government in the country distrusts operating systems developed by American companies. All major and some minor mobile operating systems are owned by American companies. The capital Moscow also announced in September that it would switch from Outlook to a Russian variant.

It is still unknown on which phones Sailfish OS will have to run. Jolla may try to port the operating system to existing devices, but new phones with Sailfish OS may also be coming. This year, the Russian manufacturer Oysters presented a model with Sailfish. Jolla nevertheless recognizes that there is no large market for consumer devices with Sailfish OS and is therefore switching to this revenue model.

Sailfish OS is compatible with Android apps through support for an Android runtime, potentially giving users access to an ecosystem of applications and services. It is unknown whether the Russian government wants to use it. Jolla is in talks with South Africa and China for similar collaborations.