Seems very reasonable from Ericsson's point of view, and was probably just a matter of time.

Sony Ericsson has moved away from using the hardware platforms delevoped by ST-Ericsson (since they have been too late to market) and using Qualcom like many other Android handset makers which means there's little point in keeping them in their portfolio. Also, with the standardized features of all Android phones, it won't help in selling new end-to-end network features to operators either since most handsets support the same features. Sony Ericsson has been quite late in launching new features (still no LTE phones for example), so Ericsson was already relying on other partners to support deals with operators.

Hopefully this makes Ericsson focus on their competency (networks) and allows Sony to do something interesting with the mobile phone branch.

> allows Sony to do something interesting with the mobile phone branch.

That's the problem. When was the last time Sony did anything interesting? All their "interesting" attempts at integration with the PS3 have been met with a huge yawn by consumers.

Good point. I'd be very surprised if they managed to do anything to really stand out from the crowd. Most likely they'll continue the PS integration, but as you say it's not really interesting. And with more and more games coming to standard Android phones it's not that big a differentiator.

I see the deal more as Ericsson selling since they don't need Sony Ericsson than Sony buying.

I just have this observation ..

Apple makes only one mobile phone model, just one, all other mobile phone makers have several products lines and models of their mobile phones

Apple obviously is leading the way currently

As Designers, which do you think is the better approach, one model or many

My next phone will probably not be an iphone, probably an xperia mini

I personally think, we had a design wave here mutiple models -> single model -> multiple models

I mean, people went from wanting different things, to wanting the same thing, to back wanting different things

And I think this is how, sony, samsung and motorolla will start to eat into the iphone market share

Of course the other school of thought is, we only need one good model, mobile are more like TVs rather than Cars (all TVs nowadays look the same)

Which direction do you think will lead the way?

Apple isn't leading the way if you're talking about mobile phone sales. They were leading a niche of the market. Last I saw, indications are that Samsung had even outsold Apple in the smartphone segment last quarter.

And if you think all TV's nowadays look the same I don't think you've seriously shopped for a TV. Yes, the overall shape is the same, but there's a wide variety of designs within the constraints of utility. By constraints of utility I mean that all TV's look similar because we all want a screen that is suitable for existing programming and that means mostly 16:9 format, and it is impractical to have a TV that protrudes in all kinds of directions beyond the screen itself, so the overall design is limited to a 16:9 screen plus a reasonably narrow frame. We also don't generally want bright colors because it is distracting.

It is similar for mobiles - it is limited by weight and size constraints tied to our desire to carry them in our pockets and hold them in our hands, while having a large displace.

TVs are different, because with a TV you don't really care about how it looks.

Phones on the other hand ARE also fashion gadgets.

For this reason alone, there are companies out there that are dressing normal phones in gold and precious stones. It's crazy, but it goes to show that customers do want to set themselves apart.

I've heard from salespeople that Samsung TVs are among the easiest to sell precisely because they look good and are thin. Maybe a bit more because of the latter, but that still counts as looks.

Obviously one's phone's is more important because it's with you all the time being shown off, but design matters for everything.

> TVs are different, because with a TV you don't really care about how it looks.

Eh? Where did you get this from?

Spend two minutes in any busy electronics shop anywhere, you'll hear people caring about how it looks because:

i) because they don't know how to compare the technical stuff

ii) it's going to stuck in their living room for the text five years

Apple is leading the way if you're talking about mobile phone sales in the sense of making money. The lead by a great margin in both revenue and profit.

Apple makes three presently, but I see your point.

Bear in mind, when Sony say stuff like "to keep up with competitors", they don't mean proper marketing or sales channels like Samsung or HTC, they mean stupid stuff like the domestic competitor Sharp who have integration between their android phones and their TVs which looks nice on paper, but will influence absolutely noone to buy their phone.

Disastrous, add more weight to a sinking ship.

Sony Ericsson has been consistently profitable. Not hugely, but still. I don't see how adding a profitable company to their portfolio will somehow endanger them.

Finally.