Sony Ericsson is to take Motorola and Samsung head on next year by launching an super-slim Walkman-branded candybar handset of its own, it has been claimed. Codenamed 'Ai', the phone is said to be a mere 9.4mm thick.

So claims Reuters, citing an industry throat. 'Ai', it seems, comes from Ai Sugiyama, a rather successful Japanese tennis player. Sony Ericsson has a thing about tennis at the moment - witness the Cyber-shot phone's ad campaign - or maybe Ms Sugiyama is the acme of skinniness as well as athleticism.

Sony Ericsson was the world's fourth most successful mobile phone maker during Q3, according to market watcher Strategy Analytics. However, it showed year-on-year growth way beyond higher placed Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. The latter's global market share was 12 per cent, Sony Ericsson's 7.7 per cent, so it's capable of catching the South Korean giant.

Motorola took 21 per cent of the world market in Q3, largely thanks to the success of its RAZR handset. ®