Sony buys Ericsson out of JV to pursue 'four-screen strategy'

Sony Corporation will buy out Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) 50 percent stake in their decade-old Sony Ericsson joint handset venture for around $1.47 billion, a move enabling Sony to more tightly integrate smartphones into its broader digital entertainment aspirations.

With the deal, Sony Ericsson becomes a wholly owned Sony subsidiary. Sony lands an intellectual property cross-licensing agreement covering all of its products and services, as well as ownership of five wireless handset technology patent families.

In a statement, Sony chairman, CEO and president Sir Howard Stringer said the Sony Ericsson buyout completes a "four-screen strategy" connecting consumers with digital entertainment services like the PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network across smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions. "We can help people enjoy all our content--from movies to music and games--through our many devices, in a way no one else can," Stringer said, also touting new operational efficiencies in engineering, network development and marketing.

Sony Ericsson products include Live with Walkman, an Android-powered smartphone that combines the Walkman brand's signature music experience with deep social media integration, and the PlayStation-certified Xperia Play gaming device. Speaking last week at the Asia D conference, Sony executive deputy president Kazuo Hirai said the company's videogame unit is "in discussions" to expand its PlayStation Suite gaming framework to Android devices from manufacturers other than Sony or Sony Ericsson.

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