Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson is contemplating buying a spun-off Motorola mobile business if it becomes available, company chief Carl-Henric Svanberg said today at an investment analyst conference. The official, whose company forms half of cellphone giant Sony-Ericsson, explained that it would be "cautious" about buying any mobile division that would split from Motorola but that the company would nonetheless watch any services that might be made available. Ericsson has historically avoided buying out other companies because it often believes it would be "better off" improving on its own, claims Svanberg.

Acquiring Motorola's mobile division would greatly increase Sony-Ericsson's stake in the cellphone industry, which grew to 9 percent in 2007 but is eclipsed by Motorola. The American company still claimed 13 percent of world cellphone marketshare despite a dramatic 38 percent decrease in phone sales year-over-year and would effectively give Sony-Ericsson a near-automatic boost to 22 percent total share. The current share leader is Nokia with 40 percent of all phones sold worldwide.