Don’t slip in it.
Sony Ericsson is blaming component shortages and slowing demand for problems in their sales channel. My take on this news? Demand for Sony Ericsson phones is slipping, not overall demand. SE dumped a polished turd and some minor turdlets at CTIA this year and their phones are complex enough to scare people away yet not powerful enough to gain business converts. Nokia and Blackberry are eating their lunch on the low and high-end models and, along with Motorola, they keep rehashing the same stuff — Cybershot? Come on. RAZR XASS921? WTF? — every season.
I used to be a big S-E supporter. The P910 was a beast and outperformed the Treo in almost every way. The UI was great, the performance was incredible, and the product was tough. Fast forward to their recent announcements and they’ve completely left entry level phones to Nokia and high end phones to just about everyone else, leaving them with expensive smartphones aimed at average consumers that no one wants to buy. Even the T-Mo Dash is better than some of the pap coming out of S-E.
Sony Ericsson Warns: Mobile Phone Demand Softening [Barrons]
I don’t know what it’s like everywhere else in the world, but it seems like SE has been, virtually, non-existent in the US.
I always forget that they are even around anymore.
I love my w810i. Also demoed a w580i a few months ago, really liked that phone as well. On a consumer level, in my opinion they definitely compete with Nokia. And Motorola just isn’t there.
The Xperia looks pretty cool, although I admittedly was not at CTIA this year (or any other). Might make for a nice alternative to those of us not willing to pay full price for a phone AND get locked into a two year contract, if you catch my drift. Did you get any hands-on with the Xperia at CTIA? Would love to get some feedback.
I did play with it. Except for the odd “screens” model that they made for it where you tap different screens, it’s the same as any other WinMo smartphone you’ve see. They just tried to pull a Sony “This is Hardcore” and tried to make it exclusive and high-end with amusing results. I wish I had video of the commercial they made for it. It was hilarious.
Well, in the UK SE phones were quite popular and still are if you look around - alot of people sporting the k800. But phone companies now want 18mth contracts signed instead of the usual 12mnths - which is also forcing market slow down.
SE phones rcenlty have all been off target - with too big, or just badly design - the software for the phone really hasn’t seen any major changes since the k750 was released, us SE fans are starting to feel forgotten…
Sony Ericsson - please sort this mess out!
ps. the Xperia does look nice - but how much is it going to cost me??
I was surprised by the non-existence of SE phones during SXSW in Texas last week. I knew Nokia phones were a rarity Stateside but expected more SE’s than the um two I saw in a week.
The volume of iPhones didnt surprise me for a geekfest but the sheer number of Blackberries did break my heart. Do people really love ‘em that much!?
SE’s just aren’t hot phones to have in my eyes. Does everything acceptably well, but nothing stands out about it.