Sony To Buy Out Ericsson’s Stake In Phone Venture?

Sony and Ericssson have been a joint force now for ten years. With Walkman music phones and Cybershot cameraphones under their belt, they have proven to be quite the successful duo. The two companies are nearing the end of their contract with each other which is up for renewal this month. It is being said that Sony may “buyout” Ericsson and the two have been talking about the venture now for weeks. Sony and Ericsson declined to comment on the reported talks, “We have a long-term commitment to our joint ventures,” said an Ericsson spokesman.

The world's sixth largest cellphone manufacturer, Sony Ericsson, is currently a 50:50 joint venture. Although responsible for developing great hardware, they have had a hard time cornering the low-end and high-end markets where Nokia and Apple dominate respectively. The recent addition of the Android operating system in such phones as the Sony Xperia Ray should help the company increase sales.

If Sony were to succeed in making the purchase it would help integrate their phones into the lineup of portable gaming systems and tablets. Complete control could give Sony the advantage of designing a smartphone that may appeal to more consumers. Right now, Sony Ericsson is #9 in global cellphone ranking dropping from the #4 spot they held a few years back.