 Sony Ericsson has been through a rough patch. How has the company’s performance improved recently?
Our situation is pretty well documented. It was important for us to focus on returning to profitability, which we have achieved in the first quarter of the year and we are delighted about it. We have chosen to focus on the smartphone segment, which is the fastest growing part of the mobile handset market. We have had smartphones in our portfolio since the beginning, but now the consumer interest in the segment has gone up phenomenally. We believe that we have laid our bets on the right technology. We want to grow in this segment by doing something different, instead of just copying what others are doing. Our Xperia series of smartphones are all about offering something special that consumers can’t buy anywhere else.
As a part of your new strategy, do you aim to focus only on the developed markets or would you go to developing markets as well?
We have a global marketing strategy, so we are present in all the markets around the world. Of course, when you choose smartphones as the primary product for the market, then you have to focus strongly on developed markets. At the How do you plan to compete with other brands in the smartphone segment like Apple, BlackBerry, Nokia, HTC, etc?
We compete because our products are technically most advanced. You can do all kinds of things with our smartphones - Email, apps downloads, browsing, indulgence in all kinds of entertainment, etc. People today want good entertainment assets in their smartphones, and we endeavour to fulfil this public demand. The third important aspect is design. Our products are uniquely capable of making a style statement.
You seem to be focusing a lot on Android operating system. What kind of relationship do you share with Google?
Would you be exclusively focusing on Android devices in the coming days? We benefit from the Android ecosystem, because majority of developers are now starting to create a lot of apps for this ecosystem. Moreover, consumers now understand what benefits Android offers and are inclined towards it. On the other hand Google benefits from having a brand like Sony Ericsson as a part of its ecosystem. So, we share a mutually beneficial relationship with Google and Android. The most important
thing for Sony Ericsson is consumer proposition. We choose an operating system that allows us to deliver. At present Android
is clearly a focus for us. We now have more phones on Android than any other operating system, but on the other hand we also continue to have Symbian and Windows devices. Basically we believe that all three OS have an important role to play.
Like other leading brands in the market, would Sony Ericsson want to get into launching its own operating system?
What about an app store? At present we have no such plans. For us it is important that we do not fragment the ecosystem, because then there will be too many ecosystems for which applications will have to be developed. There are two or three prominent ecosystems right now and that is the right way. If we were to create an ecosystem, proprietary to Sony Ericsson, it might not benefit the consumer or the industry. It’s better that we work together as one industry in a very open way to build a very small number of strong ecosystems. We do offer apps through PlayNow, but its not supposed to be a very wide range app store. We believe that large number of developers would like to develop for primary ecosystems like Android, Windows and Symbian and we want to allow the consumer to choose and not just force another ecosystem on them.
With touchscreen phones becoming popular, a lot of innovation is being introduced in the phone interface. You have already introduced Timescape and Mediascape, what are you planning?
Communication and entertainment are starting to blend together. For instance Facebook, is it really about communication or entertainment? Or both! The applications like Timescape and Mediascape are actually about bringing everything in one place, be it communication (through Timescape) or content (through mediascape). In order to make it easier for our users to discover new content, we have introduced the Infinity button, which gives access to related content on the Internet. Discovery is an areawhere there is huge scope. If the phone canintelligently pull out all the information for you, the proposition becomes pretty appealing.It saves time and also opens a lot of opportunities. Another interesting aspect is location, which is an essential ingredient for many apps. The best example is geo-tagging. However, location in itself might not be that interesting, but location integrated with other apps, is an interesting area.
What’s your vision for the coming days and how important is the Indian market for you?
Our vision is to have the most entertaining smartphones in the market. India, being one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world, is of great importance to us. We see a lot of opportunity for smartphone products in India.
sonia@mymobile.co.in
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