Sony buys full control of Sony Ericsson

By Andy Clough
published

Sony is paying £964m for the remaining 50% stake in mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson

Sony Xperia Arc S

Consumer technology giant Sony has this morning confirmed it has bought full control of mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson from Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson, the BBC reports.

Sony is paying 1.1bn Euros (£964m) for the remaining 50% stake of Ericsson, making the mobile phone business a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony.

As part of the deal, Sony will get five sets of patents that are essential to making Sony Ericsson phones.

The tie-up had long been expected, as Sony was keen to integrate its mobile phone division with its games console and tablet computer businesses.

"This acquisition makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want," says Sony's chairman Sir Howard Stringer.

Last month Sony started selling its iPad-rivalling Tablet S, launched at IFA in Berlin.

Follow whathifi.com on Twitter

Join whathifi.com on Facebook

Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.