Sony
The London-based company announced the Xperia X10 Mini touchscreen and X10 Mini Pro touchscreen and Qwerty keyboard phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Its also working more closely with parent Sony Corp. to make handsets share content with home video equipment, Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said.
Mobile handset vendors are flocking to Google Inc.s Android platform in a bid to attract applications from software companies and dent the momentum of Apples iPhone and App Store. The new Android devices are among the first of at least 50 expected to be announced at the wireless industrys biggest trade fair according to London-based CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood.
The companys new products are “competent additions that could revitalize Sony Ericsson if priced competitively and delivered on time in second quarter 2010,” Wood said in an e- mailed statement.
Sony Ericsson also announced a keyboard version of its Vivaz phone running Symbian software. The three new handsets will ship in the second quarter, the company said. It also makes handsets using Microsoft Corp.s Windows Mobile, and is adding interaction features that will be the same across all its devices.
Back on Track
“The company is starting to get back on track and theyre in a much better place than last year,” said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi in an interview. “The user interface is starting to be organized and give the extra experience. The world outside is still very, very competitive, and three platforms may be too much for them.”
The company rejected an offer from Google Inc. to sell its phones in the Google Web store because it wanted to continue selling under its own brand, Chief Executive Officer Bert Nordberg said.
Sony Ericsson was in fourth place in the global handset market last year, with a 5 percent share, putting it behind Nokia, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., and just ahead of Motorola Inc., according to U.K. researchers Strategy Analytics.
The company reported its sixth consecutive quarterly loss for the last period of 2009 and said 2010 will be “challenging.” The loss narrowed to 167 million euros ($236.4 million) from 187 million euros a year earlier as the company pared jobs and closed sites.