The current logo (which uses the Sony corporate identity), used since 2012.
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Formerly called
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Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB Ericsson Mobile Communications AB |
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Subsidiary | |
Industry | Telecommunications |
Predecessor | Ericsson Mobile Communications AB |
Founded | October 1, 2001 |
Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Number of locations
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10 (2016) |
Area served
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Worldwide |
Key people
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Products | |
Number of employees
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7,100 (2014) |
Parent | Sony |
Website | www.sonymobile.com |
Sony Mobile is a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001 as a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and wholly owned by Sony. It was originally incorporated as Sony Ericsson, but Sony acquired Ericsson's share in the venture on February 16, 2012.
Sony Mobile Communications has research and development facilities in Kenya, Africa; Chennai, India; Lund, Sweden; Beijing, China and Silicon Valley, USA. Sony Mobile was the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer by market share in the fourth quarter of 2012 with 9.8 million units shipped.
The current flagship device of Sony Mobile is the Sony Xperia XZ, an Android smartphone that is water and dust resistant with an IP68 rating, has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Chipset and a 23MP 4K camera with object tracking.
In the United States, Ericsson partnered with General Electric in the early nineties as Ericsson Mobile Communications (ECS), primarily to establish a US presence and brand recognition.
Ericsson had decided to obtain chips for its phones from a single source—a Philips facility in New Mexico. On March 17, 2000, a fire at the Philips factory contaminated the sterile facility. Philips assured Ericsson and Nokia (their other major customer) that production would be delayed for no more than a week. When it became clear that production would actually be compromised for months, Ericsson was faced with a serious shortage. Nokia had already begun to obtain parts from alternative sources, but Ericsson's position was much worse as production of current models and the launch of new ones was held up.