Sony Ericsson's President surprisingly quits
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The president of Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth-biggest mobile handset maker, quit unexpectedly yesterday, raising concerns about the joint venture’s future. Miles Flint, who joined Sony Ericsson from Sony Europe three years ago, is to leave for personal reasons.
Sony Ericsson said that Hideki “Dick” Komiyama, chairman of Sony Electronics USA, would take over Mr Flint’s role on November 1. He will also be based in London. Richard Windsor, an analyst at Nomura, described Mr Flint as the “visionary” behind the group and said that the development was “negative” and raised some “uncertainty”.
The venture, he said, was at a critical phase of its development, as it prepares to branch out into smartphones and to make a further push into the cheaper end of the market.
Success in the low-end, prepay arena is deemed critical if the group is to extend its market share beyond its current 10 per cent level. Sony had tried and failed in the mobile arena several times before it joined forces with Ericsson in 2001.
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