Sony Ericsson to reduce handset range by 20 per cent
Too many mobiles
Sony Ericsson plans to slash the number of handsets in its mobile phone line-up following its first quarterly loss in more than five years.
Dick Komiyama, Sony Ericsson's President, said the company will cull 20 per cent of its current handset range, according to a Financial Times report.
Sony Ericsson's website currently displays a range that extends to 73 phones. It's not clear whether the company will drop 15 of them straight away or manufacture fewer models going forward.
Either way, Sony Ericsson will be left with 58 phones on offer, which is barely better than 73 if you're trying to stop confusing consumers with an overwhelming range of models.
We'd argue that the company should cut its range to 20 per cent. Does the world really need any more Sony Ericsson models than that? Or from any other vendor, for that matter?
In addition to the 20 per cent range reduction, SE will also merge its three handset development divisions into one. Both changes, Komiyama claimed, will help the company reduce duplication and improve efficiency.
The firm reported a net loss of €25m ($32m/£20m) during its third fiscal quarter of this year, which ended on 30 September, compared with a profit of €267m ($342m/£211m) in the same period last year.
SE shipped 25.7m handsets during Q3 FY2008.
Sony Ericsson Phone Reviews
Xperia X1
Walkman W890
Walkman W760
C702 Rugged
Cyber-shot C902
COMMENTS
Actually....
I think you are all missing the point about the range of phones available.
To the vast majority of users their mobey is a statement about "who they are" and not just about a device that does some stuff.
mobile phones are fashion.
SE Never again
I purchased an SE k800i last year, took it back a day later as the speaker failed, and had nothing but trouble with the replacement, have had to put my sim into an old nokia so that i can make calls.
SE never again for me
Well...
After the travesty of what I know like to call the fail phone (w910i - breaks every week - im on my third.) its no shock
Spot on Hywel
Precisely! I've long since found Sony's range to be ridiculous. The functional differences between models is negligible, and often the handsets are the same as each other but just in a different case - would you like a little orange button with that or a metallic case with the same button on the side? Utter piffle.
They had a good idea with the K850i, and the touch buttons. Then they took it too far with the next model and put six of them around the screen instead of leaving the camera controls on the keypad. Result - back to small screens for ZERO functional gain.
Sony lost their way ages ago. They need a damn good kick up the jacksy! 5 really good models would do. 73 cases of "same crud, different wrapper" needs sorting out. It's basic business sense. Paris - cos she'd have a simpler range of phones than SE ;-)
Phone names
How about having the clamshell designs named "Flipping Good" and "Flipping Awesome".
I can see that there is some differentiation between Walkman and Cybershot phones, but they all overlap. I ended up with a SE K800i Cybershot, even although I wanted it to play music more than have a camera (although I'm pleased I got that one as the camera is actually pretty good for my usage). So I'd agree with a small model range. Perhaps 5 is too small as some people will want different things, but keep it under 10 on sale (as new) at any one time, sharing as much hardware and software as is possible. Some people want thin, some want a big screen,some clamshell, some no camera...
