Sony Ericsson to acquire UIQ, a Symbian subsidiary
On 7th Nov 2006, Sony Ericsson announced a deal to acquire UIQ Technology; a Symbian subsidiary that makes the user interface for the handset manufactures high-end cell phones. After the formalities of the acquisition are completed UIQ Technology will operate as a separate business subsidiary of Sony Ericsson under its current management team. Meanwhile, UIQ on Symbian OS will be openly available to all to all its licensees on equal terms. The deal will be completed before the end of this year. Financial details of the deal were not made public. In future, consumers can expect more cell phones from Sony Ericsson with UIQ user interfaces. These devices might have the non-touch screen, one handed devices made possible by UIQ 3.
Sony Ericsson's chief technology officer Mats Lindoff said, "UIQ offers excellent technical flexibility, enabling us to provide compelling features such as push e-mail, Internet browsing, end-user personalization and enhanced music applications. By acquiring UIQ, we will further invest and exploit the full potential of UIQ on Symbian's (operating system) for phone vendors, mobile operators, developers and consumers."
Analysts suggest that this move would strengthen the capabilities and services available for the phones, which are largely based on UIQ and Symbian OS. This would also allow the team to focus solely on the production and development of Symbian OS for the mass market, which is growing at a rapid race. Sony is by far the biggest market for UIQ. The latest UIQ version 3.0 is being used on the latest Sony Ericsson cell phones like SE P990 smartphone, M600 messaging phone and W950 Walkman phone. It is a well-known fact that Mobile Applications Lab, which was initially set up by Ericsson Mobile Communications in 1998 went on to be known as UIQ. Later in 1999, UIQ became a part of Symbian.
The possible reason of this acquisition might be that Vodafone, a powerful operator wants to cut down on the various operating systems on cell phones. And in the next five years, it is looking forward to settle on three operating systems viz. Windows Mobile, Symbian Series 60 and Linux. With UIQ in the kitty, Sony Ericsson and look forward to re-model the UIQ according to its famous distant cousin the Series 60. This gives Sony Ericsson an upper hand for its own preferred operating system at the operators' high table. Another reason being there was a fight between Symbian and Linux. But with the acquisition of UIQ, Sony Ericsson has made their choice clear. Sony Ericsson will have a greater say in the direction of the UIQ platform, which is very important in terms of business and strategic point of view. Not to forget it saves Sony Ericsson license fees rumored to be around $2-4 per unit.
|
