Sony to buy over Ericsson’s stake in joint venture

STOCKHOLM: Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said yesterday it would sell its 50 per cent stake in mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson to Sony for e1.05 billion (RM5 billion)

“Sony will acquire Ericsson’s 50 per cent stake in Sony Ericsson... making the mobile handset business a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony,” Ericsson said in a statement.

The Japanese-Swedish group was created in 2001, combining the then unprofitable handset operations of Ericsson and Sony to become the sixth-biggest player in the global market .

In its statement, Ericsson pointed out that the mobile phone market has changed dramatically over the past decade, with the focus shifting heavily to smartphones.The two companies said they would continue working together, announcing they had set up a “wireless connectivity iniative... to drive and develop the market’s adoption of connectivity across multiple platforms.” — AFP