Loading ...2009 to be a… challenging year for Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson’s CEO, Hideki Komiyama, predicts that the cell phone market during 2009 will be very tough, the main reason for this being the low consumer demand due to the global economy crisis. Despite that, in an interview with Reuters at this year’s CES, he stated that “others are falling apart but we are holding up,” referring to their main competitors, such as Nokia, Samsung and LG. He also points out that, despite the fact that they overtook Motorola’s No.3 place in the mobile phone maker leaderboard in the third quarter, their shipments volume wasn’t all too different in comparison to the previous quarter. Rather, he attributes their change of position to competitors’ weak performance. That’s why they’re waiting for the Q4 earnings report, in order to make official estimates about 2009.
Here comes the good part, though. They’d realised that they haven’t exactly reached those profit margins in the low-double-digit percentage range they’ve been targeting since 2007. That’s why they’re rethinking their sales strategies. They plan on releasing more high-end devices, rather than the less profitable low-end ones, even if it means releasing less products than originally planned. They’ve been doing exactly the opposite the last 2 years.
He also hinted that they’re developing some kick-ass smartphones for 2010, but refused to give any further info. “At this moment we’re under heavy rain. You have to look for shelter. But when you’re in the shelter you start preparing, for a recovery”, he said. Hit the source link for more info.
Source: Reuters
Filed under: Article, Market, Upcoming
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While I certainly welcome the addition of more high-end phones as that’s the kind of products I buy, I thought it was the low-mid segment that pulled in the most profit, which is one of the reasons Nokia is so successful.
Though, as you said, that tactic hasn’t worked wonders in the last two years, so maybe a change of direction will indeed help. The average device is much more high-end than it was even a year ago, so catering to that market should pull a profit.
The latest release was very odd. They release “new” phones with nothing new. I thought there were already 10s similar phones from SE.
No gps? Tell me you just forgot it or this is a joke I just didn’t get.
These phones are so average that only way to make them interesting is giving them away for free. Just a few months ago SE was worried about having too many different models…
There is market for good phone+walkman+camera -combos as people use netbooks and other MIDs to browse net. Sony just released a camera and walkman with wifi. Why? They could’ve just included bluetooth and let a phone do the hard work. Most phones already have 3g and some have wifi. There is no need for all your personal devices to be connected to net. One would be enough and there are no technical limitations to that.
My new years wishes. Drop the windows mobile. Don’t ever again release a phone without gps. Allow IM (and facebook messages) and calendar integration on A2. Make more weatherproof phones.
cool cant wait for new phones ! SE will be rising very soon
GoodLuck: I think your opinion doesn’t share many people.
GPS? Fine, has some usage, but without a real OS? Not necessary.
), Android has/will have some fans and Symbian as well. If they can produce mobiles with every one of these OS, SE has a high chance to increase its share on the market.
“There is no need for all your personal devices to be connected to net.” I’m sorry, but I do feel the need for ALL my personal devices to be connected to internet with a decent speed, especially in this “tech era”.
In my opinion, WiFi is a very important feature, everybody wants to surf for free.
Drop WM? They dropped UIQ, that was stupid enough. And connected to what I mentioned above, GPS on WM is much more useful than on phones with basic SE OS. And it looks that SE understood the power of having choice between many OS under one brand. They should just add, not leave out. WM has some fans (including me, X1 rulz
re: Waco
were there not a rumour recently that SE will be producing a phone in the coming year that uses the Android?
anyways, i’m really excited for what Sony Ericsson will bring in 2009!
Good luck: Those are LOWER MID RANGE phones. Not everything out there needs to be loaded to the gills. Want WiFi, GPS AND great music? Get the G705.
You may not understand the concept of product segmentation, but that doesn’t mean others don’t.
P.S. I wonder you you found your way around the block before GPS phones came into being.
Waco:
GPS is very usable for several uses. Sharing your location. Syncing location to photos. And anyways it should be basic feature of every new phone. We now see a tip of iceberg of the uses.
You sort of missed my point of all devices connected to internet. All devices have to be connected to net, but they could/should be connected through your phone. With S60+Symbian or Android they would be in right company. Not Windows Mobile. Just let Samsung and HTC dig their grave with Windows Mobile.
Without GPS I couldn’t add location to all days photos with ~15 clicks. Without GPS I couldn’t track my running and cycling. And over years I have been lost in places where GPS could’ve helped me out right away.
PS. You are right. I am no professional of product segmentation.
wifi… gps… all is great, but I can’t think of any more than 2 occasions in 2008 where I wish i had either of those functions.
Like you said, GPS functions are only at the tip of the iceberg. I’d much rather not pay for technology I do not use, untill I’m able to use half of that iceberg.
Goodluck: The you need to take a look at W705 or the C905. These “Average” phones are meant for the “Average” customer who like bummy said, does not wish to pay for technology they’re not gonna use.
…and yes, they WILL be given away for free. lower mid range phones such as these make excellent choices as free phones with contracts.