We all know that Sony and Ericsson have had a long relationship. Once that has benefited both companies and one of the most recent examples of the flourishing relationship is the Xperia Play the first PlayStation branded phone. With Sony announcing PlayStation Suit and a move into the tablet industry with a further push into the cell phone industry. It makes sense that Sony would want to aquire Ericsson.

Ericsson is the worlds largest mobile telecommunications equipment vendor with an over all market share of around 35%. Ericsson created Blue Tooth as well (Which I didn't know until I looked into it right now). Ericsson has a ton to offer Sony, the Wall Street Journal also reports that Ericsson had in fact wanted to make a PlayStation cell phone for tons of years prior to the release of Xperia Play, however according to the WSJ source Sony dragged its feet, not wanting to entrust its valuable PlayStation brand with another company. Understandably Sony wanted to ensure the PS brand remained internally controlled.

However it would appear that Sony is now realizing that Ericsson is very valuable and would make a very good investment. Rumor is Sony is apparently going to pay between $1.3 and $1.7 billion for Ericsson. They plan to integrate Ericsson's products and services into all the major PlayStation branded products including Vita, PC and Tablet businesses as well as apparently seek out further investment in cell phones.

What do you think is the rumored Sony acquisition of Ericsson a smart move? Are they worth 1.7 billion? What are the pros and cons for Sony and Ericsson going into this buyout? Is this good for us the Sony consumers?

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Ericsson has been off people's radars for so many years. I won't ever plan on getting one, and never thought about it even during it's golden years (prefered nokia over it). Now it's all about android, iPhone, and blackberry(even though it is also falling as well). Lets see if Sony can push ericsson back up if they end up buying em.

SE phones use Android 

What Sony needs is something like the Galaxy S II or LG Optimus 3D, otherwise SE will keep on loosing marketshare. The SE smartphones are blant and unoriginal, they should release one with a catchy name.

It doesn't make much sense but sure Sony...go for it.

Sony already owns 50% of the company and are the dominant partner tech wise. Its not like SE is making a lot of profit so I don't see why they would want to invest more cash in to something they already pretty much own and isn't making them money. May as well have Ericsson around to take half of the loss.

Maybe they feel they can do a better job designing the phones without Ericsson, which could be true...

I read something about Sony doing it becasue they want to tie their mobile phones with their tablets and portable Gaming and they are reluctant to do so while Ericsson owns 50% of the company.

Might as well buy them, for 1.5 billion though? But I'll say I've always found Ericson an interesting brand. Everytime I think they'd get eaten alive by competitors they seem to survive (Though whether they profit or not, I'm to lazy to check out.)  Like they try to be competitive is what I'm getting at.

Sony does not know what to do with their money....but if they want to compete with Iphone...
this is a good idea....

SE's phones have been getting better, but I do feel that with more Sony dominance, they will work better with Sony's other services, and I think this is a vital move

Sony Network Entertainment just about stretched to Android, but Sony could do much more with direct control as especially with their tablets now, it would be great if they could work together much nicer

Yeah, and I barely see anything about them in stores or online. I should've said HTC, or samsung instead of vaguely stating Android (since it's an OS on it's own if my understanding of it is correct).