| |||||||
|
|
| |||||||
|
|
 Back to featuredSony Ericsson Worldwide Press Conference, March 9th, Madrid A simultaneous event in New York, Toronto, London, Madrid and Beijing where SE unveiled three new phones, many accesories and a clear strategy Thursday 11th 2004 |
|
Sony Ericsson today. Already 2,5 year-old, Sony Ericsson is now a profitable company. This was the very first short-term objective, and also long-term. Leadership of the market is not a primary objective, BUT they have turned out to be the leaders in imaging already, with most of the camera phones sold being Sony Ericssons. Considering that camera phones sales (55 million) have surpassed the ordinary digital camera sales (40 million) in 2003, this is a big success. Since the recovery of the market, according to Mike van der Wallen (Corporate Vice President Head of Sony Ericsson EMEA), will be driven mainly to imaging, it is THE momentum for Sony Ericsson. This, together with some facts mentioned further on, suggests that eventually the SE range will only include phones with integrated camera.
Sony Ericsson 2004. The next steps in imaging leadership are quality of image, ease of use and great design inspired by Sony products. The quality will clearly be achieved thanks to the collaboration of the Technology Division of Sony Imaging. The phones will be easier and easier to use thanks to small improvements in the succesful Ericsson platform and Sony Ericsson interface. Many improvements have been included in the shared interface of the K700 and Z1010 in fact. The Sony products from which Sony Ericsson shall be inspired by are mainly the cameras, because the "dual front" philosophy will be more patent than ever; starting with the K700 and especially the S700. It's almost impossible to identify the back of this phone as the back of a phone instead of the front of a camera. Even the volume keys serve as zoom keys! Other key points of the strategy include: • Dedication to the enterprise segment (EDGE PC cards, RIM Blackberry for P900). • Exclusive presence in the northamerican GSM market (the new Z500 with EDGE and Push-to-talk, and also the T637 and T237). • Support for the HiCorp Mascot Capsule 3D Graphics gaming Engine and JAVA 3D (less Mophun). • Pre-Play ringtone listen-before-download service (already in T630). • Supporting of the developement of Wireless Village-like services in countries without this services (like Spain). • And of course the always innovative Bluetooth accesories. I have mentioned that the primary objective of Sony Ericsson was and is profitability. This objective has been achieved in 2003 and the trend will continue in 2004, and hence the are considering that they could reach the double-digit market share this year. However, a very high market share is not planned in any way, BECAUSE Sony Ericsson strategy is clearly to have a strong and respected presence in the mid/high segment with exclusive and "I-want-it" products just like Sony's business; the entry segment is not important for SE. Mr. van der Wallen called the S700 "the flagship", and he also slipped out that the products presented today were "PART OF" the portfolio. This sounds like, in one hand, Sony Ericsson is still to announce more phones this year (maybe at CeBIT? I hope so), and on the other hand that new phones will be of a lower technological level than the S700; which by the way also would mean that a future smartphone would not be shown until late 2004 or even Q1 2005. The new products. Apart from the stars of the show, K700 and S700 (- click to see the specs, live photos, videos and official links), a lot of accesories and another exclusive phone were presented (I might add photos of all the products some time soon): • Z500: Clamshell VGA camera phone with EDGE and Push-to-talk to be released exclusively in the northamerican market (GSM 850/1800/1900). Its internal screen is the 65k color 128x160 pixel STN of the T610, and the external screen is a 4.096 colors 96x64 pixel STN. It has Wireless Village compatability, 16-track Music DJ, JAVA 3D support and exchangeable covers, but NO Infrared or Bluetooth. For Q3. • T637 and T237 for the northamerican market, exact versions of the known T630 and T230. Curiously, the T637 will be initially available in the "Liquid Black" color. • MMV-100 Multimedia Viewer: An innovative accesory that plugs to any common Television (to the standard Euroconnector). Send JPG images via Bluetooth from any device (including phones, of course) to the MMV-100 and it will instantly display the photo on the TV. Q3 or Q4. • HCB-300 Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit: An updated HCB-30 with an original "5-color ID" concept that lets you share the same kit in the same car with other people, each one with their own paired phone and desired color. Q3 • HBH-600 "Akono" Bluetooth Headset: Like an HBH-65 but with exchangeable faceplates (!), lighter and with better battery life. The name "Akono" comes from a word in the Esperanto language whose meaning I can't remember. Round the corner. • GC83 and GC85 EDGE PC cards with detachable antenna. The 83 goes to the american market (GSM 850/1800/1900) and will be out in Q2. The 85 is for Europe (GSM 900/1800/1900) and will go out later in Q4. • HCA-200 Advanced Car Handsfree Kit: updated version of the old HCA-20 that will go out by the end of Q2. • HPS-20 Portable Handsfree: an normal mono handsfree with uncommon design and exchangeable covers. Q2. • IAC-25: Active Case for most phones and versatile design that can be attached even to the user's arm. |
 |
 Discuss this in the forum Click here to see the specs and photos of the S700 Click here to see the specs and photos of the K700 Click here to go to the Official Page of the Z500 Mike van der Wallen, Corporate Vice President Head of Sony Ericsson Europe, Middle East & Africa  Raúl Ortiz, President of Sony Ericsson Spain  Miguel Rubio, Marketing Director of Sony Ericsson Spain  Raúl Ortiz |
 S700 and K700: the two big news of the event. Click here to see the specs and live photos of the S700 Click here to see the specs and live photos of the K700  |
 The Push-to-talk button of the only-for-americas Z500  HCB-300 Bluetooth Car Handsfree Kit  |
 Videoconferencing with Z1010  Although the network used was under development, the image quality was acceptable and the sound quality was especially good.   |
 The beautiful Japaneese A5404s      |
 The Japaneese SO505i on which the S700 is based along with the newer SO505is   At the end of the presentation, they showed THE VIDEO, but without the scenes showing the K700 and S700. WHY? This is doubtlessly ridiculous since 10 minutes before they had officially presented the phones, but to my question they replied an evasive answer, "there are just many versions of the video". If you don't know about it, it was a secret video that was found somewhere in the net two weeks ago showing two previously unknown models —which we now know were the K700 and S700—. It was soon removed from every website by Sony Ericsson's request.  Mike van der Wallen prepared a quiz for all the attendants. A slide showed dozens of Sony cameras and Sony Ericsson camera phones, and we were asked to guess which of them were phones and which were cameras. The confusion of the crowd in the first moments proved that the dual front philosophy Sony Ericsson has adopted is truly successful. |
 The MMV-100 Multimedia Viewer   The MMV-100 plugged to an ordinary TV Euroconnector  No need to pair. Just select, send and display. |
|
