29 June 2009

Sony Already Working
On A Cellphone-Game Gear Hybrid?

The Sony Ericsson partnership has produced several rumors of in-fighting between the companies, particularly in the case of the much-rumored PSP phone because Sony has refused to grant the PSP license to Sony Ericsson, supposedly until the 'product proposition lives up to brand promise' but Nikkei, a major Japanese business publication, reported that Sony has a team working on the product now.

The development of a cellphone-game gear hybrid is seen as a way of better competing with Apple's iPod and iPhone, which is deemed to be encroaching on the gaming space traditionally dominated by the likes of Sony's PlayStation Portable and Nintendo's DS.

A growing number of game-makers including Capcom Co Ltd and Square Enix Holdings are now offering software for the iPod and iPhone to take advantage of the Apple products' popularity, posing a threat to Sony's PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Co Ltd's DS.

Sony also hinted at greater integration between its mobile and gaming units last month via the launch of a new Sony Ericsson handset called the Aino. The device uses a system called Remote Play, initially developed for the PSP, that enables users to control and access media content on PlayStation3 via the phone.

While greater co-operation between a Sony product and a Sony Ericsson phone was well received by analysts, ongoing developments in this area could cast further doubt over the future of the struggling handset venture with rumours suggesting that Sony could soon buy-out Ericsson.

According to the latest Gartner figures, Sony Ericsson slipped to fifth place in terms of global phone shipments in 1Q09, as its market share declined to 5.4 percent compared to 7.5 percent in the year-earlier quarter.

Sony Ericsson also suffers from the chronic indecision about the mobile platforms, last month they said it would stick to its plans to use three different mobile operating systems, Symbian, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows but in the midst of recession and shrinking cellphone demand its three-way bet is seen as too costly in the market and Sony Ericsson's chief Hideki Komiyama told the FT the company may cut the number.