dow jones newswire: se z1010 kommt erst anfang 2004
Sony Ericsson 3G Phone Delayed From 2H '03 Into Early '04
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON -- Mobile handset maker Sony Ericsson said Wednesday its first third-generation mobile phone would be released commercially in the first weeks of 2004 - later than it had said previously.
The company, a joint project of Sony Corp. (SNY) and L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co (ERICY) had said it intended to launch the phone in the second half of 2003.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Philip Rambech, managing director for U.K. and Ireland, said the company was in negotiations with a number of European operators who may wish to sell the 3G phone.
Rambech also gave some U.K. outline retail prices for the current-generation mobile phones released by Sony Ericsson Wednesday, prices which will include an element of operator subsidy.
He said the entry-level T230 would be between free and GBP49. He said the Z600 model would priced at similar levels to Sony Ericsson's T610 when first released, typically GBP150 to GBP200. The Z200 phone, he said, would be available to prepay customer at around GBP150.
He said the phone-controlled model car announced Wednesday would be a limited-release product. He declined to specify a price, although when asked whether it would be in the range GBP50 to GBP300, he said it would be closer to GBP50. He described the car as "quite an expensive toy."
Regarding its three new handsets unveiled Wednesday, Philip Rambech, managing director of Sony Ericsson U.K. and Ireland, said the Z600 will be priced similarly to the T610 when it was released, which was between GBP150 and GBP200 depending on the operator. He said the price for a prepaid Z200 will be around GBP150 while the entry-level T230 model will be free with some contracts or up to GBP49.
Rambech told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview on the sidelines of the presentation that Sony Ericsson is strongly committed to the Symbian operating system that powers its P800 handset. He said that, given the success of the P800, "it would be right to assume that there will be more products like this one coming up."
Sony Ericsson owns a 19% stake in Symbian. Following Motorola Inc.'s (MOT) decision to sell its interest in the mobile operating system developer last week, market observers had questioned other stakeholders' loyalty to the company.
Rambech added that after exceeding expectations with the P800, he believes there is more growth to come. "We're still scratching the surface," he said.
Regarding the company's decision to stop developing CDMA-based phones, Rambech said its GSM-based phones still cater to the fast growing Latin American and South American markets.
Asked why he thought the three new model phones would sell well in the run up to Christmas, Rambech said he thought the two changeable panels on the front and back of the phones and the new clam shell models with integrated antennas will be very popular.
