Sony Mobile

Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
Native name
ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社
FormerlySony Ericsson (2001–2012)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunications
PredecessorEricsson Mobile Communications
FoundedOctober 1, 2001 (2001-10-01)
DefunctApril 1, 2021 (2021-04-01)
FateMerged with Sony Corporation
HeadquartersLondon, England (2001–2012)
Lund, Sweden (2012)
Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan (2012–2021)
Key people
  • Katsumi Ihara (president, 2001–2004)
  • Miles Flint (president, 2004–2007)
  • Hideki Komiyama (president, 2007–2009)
  • Bert Nordberg (president, 2009–2012)
  • Kunimasa Suzuki (president, 2012–2014)
  • Hiroki Totoki (president, 2014–2018)
  • Mitsuya Kishida (president, 2018–2021
ParentSony Corporation (2012–2021)
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB,[3] was a multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its mobile phone products. The company, originally a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, marketed products under the "Sony Ericsson" brand from 2001 until 2012, when Ericsson sold its share to Sony, with products hereafter being branded as "Sony".[4] As part of a corporate restructuring, Sony Mobile was superseded by and integrated into Sony Corporation in 2021.[5]

The alliance between Swedish telecom giant Ericsson and Japanese electronics giant Sony was formed to benefit Ericsson Mobile recover against competitors in the mobile phone market, while for Sony it gave the opportunity to grow in the field of cellular communication, where it had only a minor presence.[6] Products and development was done with contributions from both parties: the company itself was based in London, England, with its design centre in Lund, Sweden, and other research and development facilities in Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; and San Francisco, United States.[7] The Sony Ericsson T68i was the first GSM phone released under the joint venture since its launch.[8] After the Sony acquisition, the company, now as Sony Mobile, moved its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan.[9]

Some of the most notable phones produced by Sony Ericsson include the T610, the K800i (Cyber-shot branded), the W810 (Walkman-branded), and the Xperia arc S.[10][11][12] Sony Ericsson was also the main user of the UIQ smartphone platform, but beginning in 2010 had switched over entirely to Android. After the end of the joint venture, the Xperia sub-brand of Android smartphones would be the only handsets under the Sony brand, although Sony Mobile also developed tablet computers (Xperia Tablet), smartwatches (Sony SmartWatch) and fitness trackers (Sony SmartBand).

At its peak in 2007, Sony Ericsson, Sony Mobile's predecessor, held a 9 percent global mobile phone market share[13] making it the fourth largest vendor at the time.[14] In 2017, Sony Mobile held less than 1% global market share[15] but 4.8% in Europe[16] and 16.3% in Japan.[17][18]

  1. ^ "Sony Mobile Communications Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com.
  2. ^ "Sony Mobile moving HQ from Sweden to Tokyo on October 1st". Sony Xperia Blog. July 5, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  3. ^ "Ericsson – press release". Cision Wire. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2001.
  4. ^ "Sony Europe". Mynewsdesk. August 31, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  5. ^ "Sony integrated its electronics businesses including Sony Mobile".
  6. ^ Vickers, Amy (April 24, 2001). "Ericsson rings up Sony alliance". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  7. ^ "Our design philosophy". Sony Mobile Communications. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  8. ^ "Sony Ericsson - T68i". www.mobilephonemuseum.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  9. ^ "Sony Mobile Communications Announces New Operational Structure and Reduction in Workforce". Sony Group Portal - Sony Global Headquarters. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  10. ^ "The history of Sony Ericsson in phones: from the first color screen to the K series, the Golden Age". May 29, 2013. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  11. ^ Simon Hill (July 1, 2016). "The very best - and worst - of Sony's phones". TechRadar. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  12. ^ "5 Greatest Sony Ericsson Phones Ever Made That Challenged Nokia During Their Dominant Time". MensXP. August 3, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  13. ^ "BBC News - Can Sony succeed where Sony-Ericsson partnership failed?". October 13, 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Newsroom". Gartner. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (August 30, 2018). "Sony launches high-end smartphone with a TV screen on it". CNBC.
  16. ^ "Sony & Samsung Pressure Huawei's Growth in Europe - Global site - Kantar Worldpanel". www.kantarworldpanel.com.
  17. ^ "Samsung's smartphone market share doubles in Japan". www.theinvestor.co.kr. August 8, 2017.
  18. ^ Ramstad, Jordan (August 8, 2017). "Data: Samsung's Phone Share In Japan Improves In Q2 2017". Android Headlines.
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