Smartphone start-up Jolla said that its Sailfish OS is “now compatible with the Android ecosystem, in terms of application and hardware compatibility”.

For end users, this means that they can “take full advantage of the Android application ecosystem available through various app stores globally”.

Tomi Pienimaki, CEO, said: “For example, highly popular apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify run directly on Sailfish OS. Also Chinese WeChat – already with over 400 million users – runs on Sailfish OS.”

For device makers, developing Sailfish OS to run on common hardware produced for the Google platform means that they can “fully utilise the existing Android hardware ecosystem”, which Jolla said will offer growth opportunities “of significant scale for Sailfish OS globally, especially in China”.

“We believe Sailfish with Android compatibility is a highly relevant mobile operating system option for major mobile companies in Europe and in Asia. We are already in discussions with several major Asian vendors regarding this opportunity,” Pienimaki said.

And following the news of Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Nokia’s Devices & Services unit, Jolla said it will offer another set of its eponymous devices for pre-order, “targeted to Finnish customers who want to express their passion for the Finnish mobile industry”.

Last month, the Finnish company said that its initial run of devices had been “fully booked by consumers and selected sales channels”, although it has not stated what this means in absolute terms.