Mobiles: Sony Minus Ericsson?

Sony is reportedly interested in buying out the 50% stake that Ericsson holds in the Sony-Ericsson joint venture, currently the world's sixth largest mobile phone manufacturer.

The Japanese tech giant is apparently tempted to go it alone in the fruitful and lucrative market of mobile telecommunications. The only question now is whether telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson will be willing to hand over its share, especially in light of the growing success of Sony-Ericsson smartphones. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sony has apparently offered to buy Ericsson out for the princely sum of $1 billion.

For Sony, the stakes are high. Like Apple, the manufacturer is embarking on a strategy of developing cross-product content in a common product ecosystem, and is keen to integrate such services into Sony-Ericsson smartphones.

By taking over the whole of Sony-Ericsson, Sony could shake up its smartphones by tying them into the new product and content ecosystem—a move that would clearly only benefit one side of the current partnership.

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