Posted by whizkidd
A German magazine Manager-Magazin.de is reporting that Ericsson might be ready to let go off its 50% stake in the joint-venture. According to the reports, Sony is rumored to be in talks with banks for financing the the possible buyout. While there has been no comment from Ericsson regarding this, the report says that it is “interested” in selling its stake.
The joint venture between the electronics giant and the telecom major came about in 2001 and has since then went on to become one of the top five handset makers in the world.
Techniclez via Mobileburn
Posted by luwi
no wayyyyyyyy! they should stick together...
Posted by recl
why...
Posted by whizkidd
Relax folks.. just a rumor as of now. I would certainly not want to see this happen..
Posted by Dups!
On 2009-03-18 18:13:40, whizkidd wrote:
Relax folks.. just a rumor as of now. I would certainly not want to see this happen..
I doubt this is only a rumour. I read something that alluded to this a month or so ago on the '2009 SE portfolio' that was evaded by a senior SE employee.
For me, it's a pity that it is the Ericsson part that wants out. Would've liked Sony to be the one getting out of this partnership. Unless of course we are going to have Ericsson on its own (wishful thinking I know but just maybe...).
Posted by xironghostx
On 2009-03-18 18:36:01, xironghostx wrote:
Yes, FINALLY!
Get that shitty Sony and their brands and !"#¤ /5 /¤&¤&(%/ ..
Posted by gola
I hope they get to release the w995 before (if) they do break up...
Posted by jcwhite_uk
According to rumours a couple of months ago, Sony wanted to do the same. These rumours rarely come true.
Posted by DEAF
i dont blame ericsson for the past 2 years and tell know SE has released its worst handset since w800i SE has lost its colour for its handset. its 2009 and i see nothing interesting from SE.
Posted by AbuBasim
That'd mean this site would have to change it's name to sato.com?
Posted by echo.shane
If sony let go of ericsson or the other way around what will happen to cybershot and walkman phones and the ultmate umbrella series. will ericsson get the right to make phone under cybershot and walkman brand? Idk i dont like ericsson alone sony ericsson and green logo looks better than the three blue lines. Hope its a rumour. If they break up which company should i turn to? Does sony make phones. I dont think id stay with ericsson. Didnt like the past designs
Posted by xironghostx
On 2009-03-18 21:26:34, echo.shane wrote:
If sony let go of ericsson or the other way around what will happen to cybershot and walkman phones and the ultmate umbrella series. will ericsson get the right to make phone under cybershot and walkman brand? Idk i dont like ericsson alone sony ericsson and green logo looks better than the three blue lines. Hope its a rumour. If they break up which company should i turn to? Does sony make phones. I dont think id stay with ericsson. Didnt like the past designs
I don't like the design that sony had 8 years ago either. If Ericsson started making phones again Im sure that they wouldn't use the same old t28-r310 like design. t68-p800 design would be way cooler than the design that SE has now.
Posted by djin
SE will be SE. or could be S'X'E, but not S and E. IT would be stupid of them to do so, and I am pretty sure they are not. But, Could be possible they might release independent handset( Sony x2, Ericsson P2) specializing in some sort.
But i will be taking this rumour, as a rumour just to scare off people who wud buy SE handset.
Posted by c96sthl
it just seem like both parent is having financial issues...which is a fact as we know beside SE suffering.
the rumour is just seem like a $ driven decision no matter how hard both parent try to stay connect in mobile phone business
we all know Ericsson have claimed many times SE is a way for them to understand the whole mobile phone market needs....as Ericsson is mainly to operator while SE allow them to know what end user wants.
Sony on the other hand need to fulfill their quest on full digital experience for their AV product which mobile phone stay a roles there but now with such crisis worldwide...all this dream need to be throw out of the window
tht is why even Honda give up their F1 dream.
Dream can never fight with $ ....sad thing
Posted by karlosperu
Believe that it would be possible for SONY live alone?
these were the last team in 2001
SONY CMD J7 J70 Z7 and CMD MZ5
SONY IDOU???????????
[ This Message was edited by: giancito on 2009-03-19 15:01 ]
Posted by c96sthl
latest forecast from SE homepage only showing 14million shipment... maybe more...maybe even less for q1 2009
maybe the rumour might come true....IF ericsson suffer loses in all other area and SE being one of their division that can generate some cash.
Posted by goldenface
I think Ericsson is one of the few companies that is actually doing well.
It doesn't really make sense because they have been making quite large profits for years so I say they should ride this one out.
Posted by Kshetar
SE awaits deficit of 390million euro, don't think the joint venture is doing well.
Posted by Residentevil
A good way to increase the value of the used phones after they split.
Posted by jjjajjj
http://www.engadget.com/2009/[....]sales-not-so-hot-500m-loss-ex/
Posted by norbi_nw
pity. I like SE. i will miss the menu interface and the designs. It's a huge loss for them in 2008. And yes the "always LATE" part is very true. the Idou should have been released in 2008 Q2-Q3, not now. They always are 1 step behind others.
I hope i buy 1 more SE phone untill they split. Waiting for that Idou.. if not, there's the samsung omnia HD..
Posted by jack00
guys get down to earth
economy is f**ked up, no one cares about phones
even apple has problems (-16% sales and shriking marketshare)
Posted by echo.shane
if its true im sure sony ericsson will be sony ericsson its just that they might be independent of sony. idk im just saying cant the keep the name sony ericsson and let go of ATRAC, ATRAC3plus, ATRAC3, Cyber-shot, MagicGate, Mega Bass, Memory Stick DUO, Memory Stick Micro and M2, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick, Motion Eye, Sony, WALKMAN and x-Pict Story are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Corporation.
according to comments over the internet ericsson seem to be smart they have more experience im sure they can live. maybe the late announcement is a sony trend ericsson is following
oh dear god let this rumor if false if not well...wish sony and ericsson luck i will always support them
[ This Message was edited by: echo.shane on 2009-03-20 19:20 ]
Posted by jack00
sony is currently restructuring and so is sony ericsson
we can only hope that these actions fix the problems before the crisis dig deeper, but don't expect over night miracles
sony needs sony ericsson, they won't give up on them.
everyone is losing money currently (look at bmws results, thats what i'd call bad), especially in the IT industries so expecting any better Q results would be insane
[ This Message was edited by: jack00 on 2009-03-20 19:16 ]
Posted by puestadelsol
On 2009-03-20 19:12:38, norbi_nw wrote:
pity. I like SE. i will miss the menu interface and the designs. It's a huge loss for them in 2008. And yes the "always LATE" part is very true. the Idou should have been released in 2008 Q2-Q3, not now. They always are 1 step behind others.
I hope i buy 1 more SE phone untill they split. Waiting for that Idou.. if not, there's the samsung omnia HD..
Well, I think, what is good in SonyERICSSON originates rather from Ericsson. For example the menu interface. It's evolition is quite obvious Ericsson T68m => SE T68i => T610 (with the addition of Sony's unique back button) => k700 (actually no major changes in K750, K800) => K850 (No more Sony's back key).
I think Ericsson could be able to make cameraphones alone too with great quality (for example Nokia without any experience in this domain made better cameraphones than the Cybershot branded K850 or C902).
But if Ericsson backs out from phone business, I don't see to many chance to make phones alone. I buy SonyEricssons because of Ericsson, I wouldn't buy never ever a Sony phone (considering that with what kind solutions came up Sony phones before SonyEricsson).
A lot of Sony's not so user-friendly and unique solutions are what holding back SonyEricsson like the MemoryStick, the JogDial in the past, and so on...
Posted by Keiki
I think SE should realize that something is missing from their lineups.
A Mid-Low End Symbian Smartphone!!!
Posted by ares
On 2009-03-21 02:20:17, Keiki wrote:
I think SE should realize that something is missing from their lineups.
A Mid-Low End Symbian Smartphone!!!
too late for that...
Posted by iksplusipsilon
yeah jack00, Sony is restructuring with the same management for the last few years, the very same management that killed all the interesting Sony projects. Sony is going nowhere with mr Howard S.( he killed AIBO
)[ This Message was edited by: theos on 2009-03-21 02:07 ]
Posted by goldenface
Ericsson Still Committed to JV
Rumour scotched afterall.
Posted by Sliderse
I will make a prediction, SE will not be around within 12-18 months. Sony will start releasing their own phones branded as Sony and Ericsson will go into a joint venture with Motorola
Posted by nvkid909
well there you go... it would've been sad, but if they did go seperate ways, i would say ericsson should pair up with motorola, keep the fashion phone thing going (with the usual user friendlyness, good camera, & possibly an indirect link to apple / itunes, like wot moto had with the rokr). it is mostly the fashion element that sells these things, functionality is bonus
actually i can't stop thinking about a "moto-ericsson". or what about the more 'exotic' brands like neonode (are they still going?)
Posted by Keiki
SE Need a smarter portofolio to survive the global recession. Not A Sagem phone with - no copy paste - no multitasking phone - with openwave browser - no themes compability - in their sub $150 product range. Its like commiting suicide in these day
[ This Message was edited by: Keiki on 2009-03-21 09:16 ]
Posted by K.
I hope they split up, so finally Sony can produce top notch phones which can be labeled as Like.No.Other. I wonder how Ericsson will do tho. Honestly, i do not care about Ericsson nor about the impact will be on the Swedish economy which everybody is talking bout these days. If this split up will damage Swedish economy I think they have more serious problems than that.
Posted by QVGA
The split will only be bad for Ericsson. They went down before too you know.
Posted by echo.shane
On 2009-03-21 23:49:34, K. wrote:
I hope they split up, so finally Sony can produce top notch phones which can be labeled as Like.No.Other. I wonder how Ericsson will do tho. Honestly, i do not care about Ericsson nor about the impact will be on the Swedish economy which everybody is talking bout these days. If this split up will damage Swedish economy I think they have more serious problems than that.
@k move up yu raws and gwe a wah yah talk bout split up!@#$%^&*
Posted by aqualung
Struggling handset maker needs to get smart - and fast
From the Financial Times :
Struggling handset maker needs to get smart - and fast
Hideki (Dick) Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson, admits he is in the toughest job he has ever had.
The eight-year joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson is running up losses following a steep slide in handset sales - and the situation cannot be blamed solely on the recession.
Mr Komiyama, 66, is grappling with a company that has not kept up with technological developments in the mobile phone business.
In particular, Sony Ericsson has so far failed to develop a smartphone - a mobile that doubles as a mini computer - to compete with Apple's much-hyped iPhone.
Some industry analysts make unfavourable comparisons between Sony Ericsson and Motorola, the deeply troubled US handset maker that has also failed to come up with an alternative to the iPhone. They say both risk financial collapse if they do not come up with popular new mobiles soon.
Mr Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson since November 2007 and a veteran from Sony with 42 years service, is part-way through a turnround strategy for the handset maker that has been made far more challenging by the global recession.
"If we do not adapt to this new technology or new market environment, we're going to lose," he says at the company's global headquarters in London.
He paints a picture of near-anarchy at Sony Ericsson when he arrived. There was no effective strategy to come up with a smartphone and no profitable plan to sell cheap mobiles in emerging markets.
Instead, the three planning and development units responsible for the company's low, mid and high-priced mobiles had fallen into the trap of competing with each other.
They were effectively developing the same mid-priced mobiles because little or no progress had been made with smartphones for western countries or handsets for emerging markets.
It meant Sony Ericsson was churning out scores of similar looking phones, and the organisation became highly inefficient. Mr Komiyama says it was a "rather serious situation".
To make matters worse, Sony Ericsson's rivals were matching its strength in making so-called feature phones.
Sony Ericsson enjoyed success in 2005 and 2006 by making mobiles with music players and cameras that were marketed with Sony's Walkman and Cybershot brands, but its rivals soon copied these feature phones.
By 2007, and the iPhone's launch, western consumers increasingly chose smartphones over feature phones. Finally, as the downturn took hold, many consumers simply stopped buying new mobiles.
Mr Komiyama's most visible response to Sony Ericsson's deep seated problems is the axe he has taken to the cost base.
He has earned a reputation as an aggressive cost cutter by removing 4,000 jobs - or 30 per cent of the workforce - at Sony Ericsson, as part of a programme that seeks to reduce the company's annual operating expenses by €880m ($1.2bn) by the middle of next year.
He has also centralised decision making, to try to end internal rivalries. But all Mr Komiyama's internal change will be rendered meaningless if Sony Ericsson does not start producing mobiles that sell.
Last year, Sony Ericsson's X1 smartphone failed to capture the public's imagination, and Mr Komiyama now says it was "a kind of experiment".
Sony Ericsson is hoping to begin selling at least two new smartphones by the end of this year, and a third early in 2010, and they could well be make or break for the company.
These smartphones will use operating systems developed by other companies - Nokia's Symbian, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile - and the reliance on third-party technology highlights Sony Ericsson's shortcomings.
It underlines how it has abandoned efforts to develop a graphic interface for smartphones based on software from UIQ, a Swedish technology company bought by Sony Ericsson in 2006. Mr Komiyama describes UIQ as a "bad bet".
Some analysts fear Sony Ericsson is spreading its efforts too thinly, and raising its costs, by using three different operating systems for smartphones.
Mr Komiyama says the company may decide to use less than three, but is confident that customers "will be pleased" with the new smartphones.
He expresses interest in Sony Ericsson carving out a niche for itself based on Sony's strength in gaming. He says a PlayStation mobile, building on the Walkman and Cybershot phones, "could happen".
While admitting his role at Sony Ericsson has proved his toughest job, and that it can be a "pain in the ass sometimes", he says he is enjoying himself. But he acknowledges the scale of the turnround task when he adds: "And if I lose, what the hell?"
Posted by gola
That's some rather good news, them admitting their mistakes openly. Atleast he didn't directly say that SE might split
[ This Message was edited by: gola on 2009-05-10 09:25 ]
Posted by carkitter
Everyone wants a Playstation mobile and I'm sure it will sell but will it kill off the PSP? The iPhone is pretty good for games but the amazing thing is that non-gamers like me are downloading games on our iPhones because they are either cheap or free so we can indulge ourselves with some novelty value for not much cost. You wouldn't catch me buying PSP games at their NZ cost of $80+. If a Playstation phone comes out it'll need to have cheap and free games to gain market share from iPhone and that will definately hurt PSP. Is Sony ready to let that happen? Would PSP go upmarket and become a mini netbook competitor like the Apple netbook/tablet rumours perhaps?
Posted by prototype_bo
plain and simple:
Sony will not take chances with PSP branded phone made by the JV.
they know for sure, that the result is going to be like: a normal phone with mediocre tech specs, that plays mediocre J2ME core games. with branding overkill!!!
i see a logo change somewhere. lips sealed
Posted by se_dude
The psp go and the new SE multimedia phones use the same software to transfer media. Media go. PSP will use it to transfer games as well. Aino is a solid step towards the psp and hopefully it will improve as we move on.
Posted by vincor
I seriously support the spitting of this two company.
Seems too much internal rivals in between them that obstruct their progess.
Shyts happen when the two unable to fully merge into one company. There are many things sony refuse to allow sony ericsson to participate in. Example is their PSP/PS feature which will be a challenge to the current phone market where most phone neglected it.
Most phones might have been able to catch up with all this feature since it's kind of common for camera,walkman and multi feature purpose excluding games.
Currently only Sony , microsoft and nitendo are the major game console makers. The rest might be able to catch up but it will certainly take quite sometime unless they accquire help from ms or nitendo.
Gaming has been a major hobby currently and having a psp phone will indeed kill sometime off during a heavy traffic jam.
It also saves the trouble of having a phone and a psp. Economy isnt that good these days and having two means ur gonna double ur watch instead of having one.
SE has indeed been making many multifeature dream phones which most phones are not capable of in the past. But the fast pace of technology catching up currently is unimaginable. Instead of strongly focus on how to boost the camera and what OS to stick to, y not take their strongest card to put into play. Gaming is their last bet and i see sony is holding it up.