Saturday, October 21, 2006

Sony Ericsson Taking on King Moto


After 2 years of flooding the market with the hip RAZR, Motorola Inc is still leading the market (kickin' booty and takin' names). But Moto is getting their fair-share of competition these days, and much of it is coming from Sony Ericsson.

BloggingStocks Briian White reminds us that, Sony Ericsson, born out of a joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony, was unleashed upon the world in 2002 with the intention of creating a brand that was stronger than either company could establish individually. Years later, Sony Ericsson's use of the "Walkman" and "Cybershot" brands on its handsets have made the joint venture hugely profitable as well as producing phones specifically for mid-tier and high-end markets, leaving the entry-level handset business to Nokia and Motorola -- and Samsung.

The result? Although Motorola has overtaken Nokia as the largest wireless handset manufacturer in the U.S., Sony Ericsson was the fastest-growing wireless handset manufacturer in the latest quarter, even outpacing Motorola and market leader Nokia.

Who knows if this will last, and if it is signaling a possible stagnation with Motorola's branding efforts (using names, not model numbers) along with RAZR craziness starting to wear off -- after only two years.

No comments: