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Here’s my interview with the former President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, Miles Flint. This is the very last interview with Miles as President of SEMC, and was one of the last things, he had to do. In the interview Miles talks about what he thinks the future will look like, what has been positive and negative in the past years, what his first Sony Ericsson phone was and he believes in a bright future ahead of UIQ.

Enjoy the interview, and thanks to Miles Flint for wanting to participate!

• First, tell me a little about yourself
  54 years old, married with two children. Enjoy sailing and photography.

• When did you buy your first Sony Ericsson product and why?
  First Sony Ericsson phone was the T68i which I used for several years. It was really cool at the time and I remember a senior Vodafone person showing me the add-on camera module.

• What are the most important features on a (multimedia) phone, in your opinion?
  For me, music, camera and internet. May be different for others

• What do you think Sony Ericsson has to offer on the mobile scene in the future?
  There’s still so much potential and so many exciting ideas in development.

• What’s your view on Sony Ericsson’s current portfolio?
  It just gets better year by year, building on success and feedback from operators and consumers. Strong consumer propositions with HSDPA coming into the portfolio combined with great features and user experience.

• There have been some problems with UIQ 3 in the past, and some might say, that there still are – what do you think about this?
  We took on UIQ because it was being under-invested in within Symbian. Now Motorola have decided to join. I think there is a real future for a truly Open platform.

• Where do you think Sony Ericsson will be positioned against the world’s biggest phone manufacturers in 2010?
  Still bringing something different to the mobile market. That’s been our focus from day 1. Sony Ericsson wanted to create something that wasn’t there before. I don’t see that philosophy changing.

• What are the biggest challenges in the future for Sony Ericsson?
  Difficult to say. There are new challenges every day but keeping focused on a longer term vision is part of the key to decide on how to prioritize and decide.

• What have been positive and negative on the mobile scene for the past five years?
  Positive: An industry growing at a rate that others can only dream at. Constant innovation and better and better devices for consumers. Negative: 3G demonstrated the tendency to promise technology with too aggressive timelines.

• What are you going to do from now on?
  Nothing yet fixed. Some time off in the new year and then most likely portfolio and part-time roles.