标签:
IT/科技 |
-(Dow Jones)- Motorola, will take a 50% holding in UIQ Technology, the mobile software developer owned by Sony Ericsson, the companies said Monday.
The deal, financial terms of which weren't disclosed, was interpreted as a strengthened competitive threat to Nokia, the world's largest mobile handset maker, in the smartphone marketplace.
Sony Ericsson President and CEO Miles Flint said the intention was to recruit a chairman for UIQ shortly, adding that the company will be governed by a board comprised of Sony Ericsson and Motorola executives.
Sony Ericsson acquired UIQ from Symbian Ltd in February. The company licenses interface and development technologies to mobile phone vendors.
Symbian is 47.9% owned by rival Nokia,which is also Symbian's largest customer.
Motorola recently launched a new phone, the Z8, that uses UIQ technology.
Flint said Monday he hoped the deal would prompt other developers to participate in the development of the UIQ platform.
Shortly after Flint announced the acquisition of UIQ in February, he said that he wanted other mobile phone providers to take a stake in the company to ensure that the user interface software gains critical mass in the mobile phone market.
The largest player in terms of mobile software at the end of 2006 was Symbian with 67% of the market, according to data from research firm Canalys. At that time, Microsoft's Windows Mobile had 14% of the smartphone market, while Blackberry owner Research in Motion had 7%. UIQ's market share was in single digits.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Flint said the transaction "demonstrates the increasing importance of open operating systems for all handset vendors."
"By working together in a strong, mutually beneficial partnership, handset vendors can reduce development costs and help operators launch more consistent services with greater efficiency," he said.
"As of now Sony Ericsson and Motorola are joint ventures in a partnership that strengthens the competition against Nokia," Per Lindberg, a London-based telecoms analyst with Dresdner Kleinwort said Monday.
Dresdner Kleinwort has a buy rating on Ericsson and a sell rating on Motorola.
London-headquartered Sony Ericsson, which over the last few quarters has pushed ahead with making lower end phones to target growth markets such as Latin America and India, saw mobile phone shipments grow to 25.9 million in the third quarter from 19.8 million the previous year.
Miles Flint, who is credited with transforming
the Sony Ericsson business, will be replaced Nov. 1 by Sony Corp
veteran Hideki 'Dick' Komiyama.