Sony about webOS: it's 'not something we're thinking about'. Buys out Sony Ericcson.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Sony is to take full ownership of its Sony Ericsson joint venture with Ericsson in a move designed to bolster its position in the mobile handset market.

Sony paying its former partner €1.05bn in cash for its share.

It is likely that the Sony Ericsson brand name will disappear in the move, which comes almost exactly 10 years after the 50:50 joint venture was created. Sir Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony, said a task force had been set up to decide how to brand the mobile business.

Under Sony’s sole ownership, Sony Ericsson will move away from making older-style feature phones and concentrate on smart phones.

As well as full control of the mobile phone subsidiary, Sony will get full ownership of five key patent families, helping it navigate the patent disputes that dominate the handset industry.

Alternative options.

CEO Sir Howard Stringer :

When asked about acquiring the webOS platform, Stringer was more direct, stating that although he wouldn't rule it out, it's 'not something we're thinking about'.

When quizzed about the possibility of joining the Windows Phone ecosystem, like many other of Sony Ericsson's rivals already have and the company itself has previously hinted at, Stringer refused to shut the door on such an opportunity but stated that the company was happy with its relationship with Google:


"We never say never to anything; we have to be adaptable in this industry, but obviously we're great Google customers."

It seems highly likely Sony will stay a loyal customer of Google's Android OS for the foreseeable future, as it's this platform that has helped the company finally return to profitability in the last year.

Sony is hoping that the smartphone acquisition will position it as a major player in the connected space, with interoperability between its tablets, TVs, consoles and now smartphones.

The deal should be completed by early 2012, meaning Sony-branded smartphones could start popping up at Mobile World Congress in February.


Source: TechRadar and the Financial Times