View this article at: http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/09/24/s.ericsson.mulls.android/
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008 3:50pm
Sony Ericsson mulling Android switch
Sony Ericsson is considering the possibility of using Google's Android platform on its phones, company chief Dick Komiyama revealed today. The Walkman phone maker has stopped short of endorsing the open-source mobile software but adds that the company is interested in the option. Komiyama doesn't provide an exact reason for the company's indeterminate stance but implies that business rather than philosophy is defining the current official approach.

"We are certainly studying this opportunity, although we're not in a position to do this at this moment," he explains.

The addition of Android would potentially represent a blow to the Symbian Foundation, which counts Sony Ericsson as a key member and was formed earlier this year in a bid to spread the operating system and keep it current against rivals. Sony Ericsson has already begun experimenting with alternates through the XPERIA X1's use of Windows Mobile and has seen itself lose sales in the face of competition from non-Symbian devices.

A switch would also give support to Android itself, which got its first official debut on Tuesday with HTC's T-Mobile G1 but hasn't seen the list of manufacturers expand beyond HTC and original partners LG, Motorola and Samsung.