The rumour mill has been working over time, and word on the street is that Sony wants to buy-out Ericsson, and take complete control of their joint venture mobile phone company, currently marketed under the Sony Ericsson brand name.

But why would Sony need complete control of Sony Ericsson? Well in recent years a few things have happened in the cell phone business that have changed the competitive landscape:

1. New non-traditional players like Apple and Google have successfully entered the wireless device marketplace.
2. The Smartphone category has become a more important and game changing segment of the industry.
3. Software applications and content management have become just as important as the physical devices themselves.

Apple has clearly dominated since the introduction of its iPhone. And Google has gained an important presence with its Android operating platform. And with Google now in talks to buy Motorola, Google could gain even more power within the wireless sector. Other handset makers like Samsung, HTC and LG have also rolled out winning devices. Even Blackberry has succumbed to pressure and rolled out touch screen devices and tablets to help compete and stop its shrinking market share.

So differentiating yourself from the competition in the highly competitive Smartphone market is becoming more and more difficult. The consumer wants more and it is demanding a seamless experience across different wireless devices.

Apple recognized that a lot of its customers use more than one device to stay connected and informed. For example, one person can have desktop at work, a laptop at home, an iphone as a cellphone, and an iPad for on the go work and entertainment. This person might even have an iPod in the car for music and an Apple TV at home to watch the latest movies. Through the introduction of its new iCloud service, Apple has recognized that consumers need to be able to share their content across various devices no matter where they might be located. With all their content located on a cloud consumers are only an Internet connection away from accessing a work file, a song, or a movie. All of us a UnlockWorldwide.com can relate to this concept as we now live and work in a global marketplace.

So in today’s digital world not only is content king, but also making the right devices that can integrate and deliver a quality content experience in an easy a seamless way. Apple did not invent things like the table computer. They have been around for years. Apple just took the concept and developed a new must-have electronic gadget, and made it cool by tying it into the experience, content and numerous applications available through iTunes, iBooks and the more than 100,000 apps available for their operating platform.

So in order for Sony to compete for their share of the consumer goods market, they must be able to tie into tablets, televisions, computers, laptops and mobile phones, together with content and applications all under one roof and one strategy.

Sony is already a dominant force in the gaming sector with products like PlayStation, and gaming is an integral part of what consumers use on todays mobile devices. It was not long ago that Sony dominated numerous electronic categories like cameras, videos, music players and games. Remember the Walkman? That was as revolutionary as the iPod is today. But what has happened is that all these categories are now all one, and compete under what we now call a Smartphone device. Today’s Smartphone is a camera, takes videos, plays music, is a game console, a cellphone, and does so much more.

Sony Ericsson has not performed as a market leader in the wireless electronics space. They have a limited range with their Experia trademarked mobile handsets and use Google Android as their operating platform. They have not taken full advantage of the Sony brand and unlocked the extent of what Sony Electronics could potentially bring.

Producing a winning Smartphone is just one piece of the bigger picture that represents control over the high-tech consumer of today and tomorrow. This is a consumer that demands instant access to media on different electronic platforms. Be it sitting in their living room, or in their car, or on a train, or in their office, or away on holiday; no matter where they are in world, they want to stay connected and informed.