Mobile phone software developer Symbian reported growth of 52 per cent in the last three months with sales of 18.7 million smartphones.

And the firm sold 34.6 million smartphones in the first six months of 2007, more than the whole of 2005.

In total, 145 million cumulative Symbian smartphones have been shipped since the company launched in 1998.

On the back of continued growth, Symbian is planning a research and development(R&D) centre in China. The Beijing-based facility expands the firm’s development capacity to four centres, including those in the UK and India.

Symbian chief executive officer Nigel Clifford said the site will support ongoing development of the firm's mobile phone operating system.

‘The centre will contribute significantly to the Symbian roadmap as well as the demands of the global mass market for the next generation of converged mobile devices,’ said Clifford.

The rise in popularity of smartphones and the proliferation of affordable high-speed data networks as well as increasingly innovative mobile platforms are all factors driving the firm’s success.