Sony Ericsson phones dropping ‘Ericsson’ in mid-2012
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After a little more than a decade, Sony Ericsson is reportedly dropping the Ericsson, giving Sony a cellphone brand of its own.
The move to re-brand Sony Ericsson as just Sony follows the October announcement that Sony is buying Ericsson’s half of the joint venture for about $1.5 billion. The mobile phone company was founded in 2001 and currently makes a wide range of smartphones, with some Google Android handsets among its offering.
Kristian Tear, a Sony Ericsson executive vice president, told the Times of India about the re-branding effort, stating that the switch should be completed by the middle of 2012.
‘A lot of planning goes into getting the branding right but we will be done by middle of next year,’ Tear said. ‘It will also mean that the marketing and advertising investments will go up. We haven’t been as fierce as we were a few years back but we will step it up, refocus and invest more in brand-building in select markets, and India is one of those markets.’
The name change makes sense given Sony’s pending sole ownership of the mobile phone maker.
As the Los Angeles Times has previously reported, Sony will also cross-license five essential patent families relating to wireless handset technology as a part of its takeover of Sony Ericsson.
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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles