Sony Ericsson is a 50-50 joint venture established in 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, to make mobile phones. Both companies have stopped making their own mobile phones, letting the new company use Sony's knowledge in customer electronics and Ericssons know-how in cellular technology. The company's global management is based in London, has R&D in Sweden, Japan, China, US and UK, and in total has approximately 3,500 employees around the world.
President is Katsumi Ihara, and Executive Vice President is Jan Wäreby.
Sony Ericsson announced its first joint products in March 2002 and now has a full product portfolio covering all target groups. Through the combined strengths of Sony and Ericsson and by its strong consumer-focused and applications-led strategy, the company is a leading player in the mobile communications industry. In 2002, Sony Ericsson sold close to 23 million mobile phones. And it’s constantly reporting strong increase in sales and shipments for its two core business areas GSM and Japanese standards.