obile company Jolla signed its first sales deal today, with D.Phone, China's largest smartphone retail chain.
The newly formed Finnish company, comprised ofex-Nokia employees and MeeGo developers, will have its devices featured in D.Phone's 2,000 stores.
Jolla initially made the announcement via Twitter, writing "What a start for a new exciting week."
"We see great potential for Jolla as a new player in the Chinese smartphone market," D.Phone CEO Donghai Liu said in a statement, citing Jolla's "fresh and unique" user experience.
Jolla has not released details about its first product, which is expected to be revealed later this year, according to the companies' release.
China was selected because it is the largest, most rapidly expanding smartphone market in the world, according to Jolla Chairman Antti Saarnio. "This agreement with D.Phone is a major step in Jolla's journey towards becoming a significant player in the global smartphone market," he said.
Jolla was formed in late 2011, and recently announced plans to develop a MeeGo-based smartphone. Thus far, MeeGo has only been featured on the Nokia N9.
The chief employees of Jolla are still friendly with Nokia, which is helping the startup through its Nokia Bridge incubator program, TechCrunch said. Jolla, however, has not received access to any Nokia patents, contrary to earlier reports by Engadget.
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