Sony Buys All of Sony Ericsson

The day many had been waiting for, and that many had been dreading, has finally arrived … Sony has taken sole control of Sony Ericsson. The deal is worth a cool £964 million and gives Sony the 50% stake in the joint venture controlled by Ericsson.
So what does £964 million buy you? Well Ericsson’s 50% stake of course, but also five sets of patents that Sony will need to actually make phones as well as a licensing deal on other intellectual property held by Ericsson.
Commenting on the deal Sony’s chairman Sir Howard Stringer said:

"This acquisition makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want"

That’s corporate speak for: Ericsson get some dosh, we get full control, future phones will tie in with our various divisions. For it’s part Ericsson summed up its decision to sell as being a result of the synergies between telecoms equipment and mobile phones decreasing.
So there we have it folks … the end of an era … 10 years down the line and the joint venture is over. What now?