Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone Range To Be Cut, Yet They Manage To Leak New Handset Info!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Following on from Sony Ericsson posting their first quarterly loss in the last five years, they are to take drastic steps in order to wrestle the situation back under control.

Despite the world’s economy going into financial meltdown, Sony managed to sell almost 26 million phones in Q3 of 2008, and yet they lost €25 million in the process. That is almost certainly a bad thing, and worse when compared to the €267 million profit made this time last year.

Aggressive moves including cutting the range of handsets by a fifth and the consolidation of their three handset research labs into one were the first to be announced by Sony Ericsson president Dick Koriyama.

The downturn means that less people are buying phones, particularly those that may not have such strong unique selling points as the T-Mobile G1 or the iPhone. Trimming the range and drawing the focus onto ‘hero’ handsets such as the Xperia X1 and the 8 megapixel C905 may well be a step in the right direction for the beleaguered manufacturer.

Enough with all that doom and gloom, info on some more new Sony handsets has leaked!

The SEMC blog has been spouting off about an 8GB memory packing 8 megapixel slider handset codenamed “Hikaru,” pouring a bit of cold water on my Xperia fever that has been raging for months… No idea of further details, so it could as likely be a new Cyber-shot phone (no!) as an Xperia-topper (yay!), but it does share a name with favourite J-Pop star Utada Hikaru, so it’s alright by me!

There is also talk of a Sony Ericsson “Twiggy” handset which would pick up the mantle of entry level Walkman phone from the W350 with a 3 megapixel camera, 240 x 320 display and two colours (which may well be International Space Station White and Dusky Sunset over the Pyramids of Giza Yellow judging by past naming conventions).

Not quite handsets to push them back into the big leagues, but at least Sony Ericsson are committed to rectifying the slightly worrying current situation.

Tags: c905, g1, iPhone, Sony Ericsson, t-mobile, w350, Xperia X1