Ericsson focuses on smartphones

Dubai: Sony Ericsson prefers to play it smart and not get on the tablet bandwagon — at least for the near term. Hence the focus on a new line-up of smartphones priced at the premium end and coming with a raft of user-friendly features.

"Our R&D is concentrating on Android smartphones and not on the low-end users," said Herve Fontaine, corporate vice-president, head of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"Everyone is coming out with smartphones. We are focusing on value rather than volume. We want to stand out from the crowd — what will make our phones stand out?

It's the design and features. We are strongly positioned on design and want to be the most entertaining smartphone in the industry."

"We are testing the tablet market, but we just don't want to come out with another tablet. We want to come out with something specific to take a significant marketshare."

Sony Ericsson claims the top spot in the Android space within the territory overseen by Fontaine, with a 30 per cent share. "We want to be on top of the Android market which is growing by around 20-25 per cent a month," he added. According to data from Canalys, a research firm, the Android segment is projected to grow at more than twice the rate of its competing smartphone platforms this year, despite market concerns over platform fragmentation.

Versions

Since the launch of the Android in September 2008, many versions have followed. Gingerbread (Android 2.3) is Google's eighth update, with its forthcoming Honeycomb (Android 3.0) tablet-focused release all set to appear on devices.

The rapid evolution has required increased resources from both device vendors and application developers to support the operating system.

"The growth of Android has been phenomenal, but so too has the number of related devices launched with different hardware and software specifications," said Chris Jones, principal analyst at Canalys.

"The need to differentiate has pushed vendors to create customised user interface overlays for their devices." Vendors are also trying to differentiate further on the hardware front, with faster and more powerful processors, as well as larger screen sizes, according to Canalys.

As part of the move to focus on the premium, Sony Ericsson launched the Xperia Arc running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in the US.

Power consumption

A 4.2-inch arc phone, the model runs on Qualcomm 1GHz processor with a mobile Bravia Engine-powered screen. It has a 8.1 mega pixel camera and consumes 30 per cent less power than the industry standard.

The 8.7mm phone is expected to be available in the end of this quarter in the local market. The phone can be inserted into the back pocket due to its arch design.

"The scenario is that Android will be the most successful platform compared to Apple iOS and RIM," said Fontaine. "But that does not mean that we are not looking into the Windows 7 OS.

Right now we are focusing on Android."

He said he expects a better year than last and pins hopes on a new line up of handest to le launched this year.

Sony Ericsson is expected to launch its own applications store supporting the Android platform in the second quarter of the year.