Sony Plans to Buy Out Ericsson, Have Full Control of Their Mobile Business
A joint venture established in 2001 by Japanese technology giant Sony and Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones, Sony Ericsson has always had a rather troubled life. While the company has managed to create a few great phones, especially in the camera department, most Sony Ericsson products have failed to have a serious impact on the mobile market. That may be all set to change, as recent reports suggest that Sony are preparing to take full control of the mobile phone company.
At sixth place in the cellphone industry, Sony Ericsson has suffered from not being able to fully integrate the rest of the Sony brand with the mobile arm. In fact, some rumors even suggest that Ericsson were against the launch of a PlayStation phone back in 2005 – something that could possibly have been very successful. Sony finally made some inroads this year with the launch of the PlayStation Suite on the Xperia Play, but even that had numerous shortcomings. Additionally, the buy out will allow closer integration with Sony’s Tablet range – a rapidly expanding market which Sony has been slow to respond to.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “people familiar with the matter” confirmed that a deal for Ericsson’s half of the venture is nearing completion. However, properly valuing the company and agreeing on a price for the $1.3 to $1.7 billion worth of mobile technology patents is still to happen.
Should the deal be finalized, phones with the PlayStation brand are sure to be far more likely – and far more successful. With that in mind, would you like to see Sony take full control of their mobile division?
[Thanks for the tip skypeonps3!]
6 Responses to “Sony Plans to Buy Out Ericsson, Have Full Control of Their Mobile Business”
I dunno man.. yeah in a way it would be nice to have Sony in charge of everything with the Sony name on it but on the other hand maybe they should be separate. I’m probably being paranoid but it’s annoying enough that when they start a new service suddenly it’s only Sony Music on there or only Sony Pictures films on there and what have you. It’s a huge pain in the neck.
I could never really get into the Ericsson phones until I demoed the Xperia Play (which, by the way, is a pretty good phone, minus the PSP Go-ish controls)… So I think that Sony taking full control might be a good idea.
B-b-b-but don’t they know mobile phones are gonna kill the 3DS and Vita!!!???
It’s all about the patents, and control to a lesser degree. Apple is sueing android phone makers, they just finished sueing HTC because they were the most vulnerable because they had the least amount of patents. Sony in a group with Microsoft and others outbid google for the patents of a company.
Yes a Sony made phone will sell better than the former but how much who knows. A Playstation Phone is still controversial, Sony will not compete against themselves in the game market, it will only take away from the Vita
It is a very fragmented market and something that they have not had a lot of success at in the past. Not saying they cannot succeed in the market, but I think it is one I, personally, would not put a lot of money into because of those reasons.
That said, it is also a market that is going to continue growing and can also make some good margin on its products if successful. Apple especially has proven how a great device can take off in terms of demand and popularity, it just comes down to designing a product that people are going to get excited about and really prefer over competitors’ products. If they can do that, they have a good chance at being successful. If not, they are going to lose even more money.
When I made my smartphone purchase, it had little to do with the Samsung name on my phone and everything to do with the functionality and how smooth the Android OS worked on that phone versus others (my carrier doesn’t have the iPhone). I think that a lot of people do the same when comparing Android phones. But when it comes to the iPhone vs Android, people want and iPhone because it is an iPhone. It is that brand recognition that Sony needs to create within the market, which they are capable of doing, but will still be a daunting task.
Watching youtube videos of new devices and peripherals, and reviews of the xperia play and Arc I must say that Ericsson has really improved