Sony Corporation announced today that the transaction to buy out Ericsson's 50 percent share in Sony Ericsson was completed yesterday, February 15. The announcement marks the culmination of a nearly three month process, which started with Sony and Ericsson's joint statement of agreement back in October 2011 and was just recently approved by the European Commission on January 26. Sony Ericsson is a now a fully-owned subsidiary of the Sony Corporation, and will be officially renamed “Sony Mobile Communications” within the month.
As Sony originally stated, the buyout was spurred by its desire to integrate the Sony Ericsson line of smartphone devices into Sony's current line of network-connected devices. Moving forward, Sony Mobile Communication devices will become an integral part of Sony's “connected home”, which will include tablets, TVs, PCs, and now smartphones, including the company's flagship Xperia line.
Sony Mobile Communications will be headquartered in London with R&D sites in Beijing, Tokyo, Lund, and the Silicon Valley stateside. It will begin operating with 8,000 employees and EUR 100 million in capital. Hit the source link for Sony's official statement, and keep your eyes peeled for Sony-branded Xperias to start replacing the old Sony Ericsson moniker in the coming weeks.
Source: Sony Ericsson
Reader comments
Sony Ericsson now owned solely by Sony; rebranding to occur within the month
Would announced devices like the Ion or the S be label Sony Ericcson?
No, just Sony Xperia. Names like Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo Geo Duo S Kitchen Sink II HD Squared are too silly anyways.
It'll be interesting to see if Ericson was holding Sony back.
Do they get more end-user friendly, or less?
Sony itself has a long history of being at war with its customers.
If Sony Mobile Communications is run the same way installing your own rom could become risky business.
Hopefully they will start selling their high end phones to Verizon would really like to see the Ion with Verizon LTE
Not a single fck is given. Sony phones still suck as asual
Oh hi Sony. I'd prefer the SE logo though.