Symbian, the telecoms software joint venture, today said that the shipment of mobile phones based on its operating system more than doubled to 2.4 million in the first quarter.

On the back of the strong shipments numbers, turnover rose to £12.9 million, from £9.2 million in the same period last year. The figure had fallen from 15.0 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

In a statement issued by Psion PLC, which is still a shareholder in Symbian but has agreed to sell its stake to Nokia Corp, Symbian said its performance in the first quarter was in line with expectations.

David Levin, the chief executive of the venture, highlighted the firm's progress in Japan.

"Symbian continues to focus on and develop its position in the Japanese market which is leading the world in the deployment of 3G networks," he said.

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