By Prince Osuagwu
After hitting it big in 2007 as one of the world’s topmost mobile handset manufacturers, Sony Ericsson’s fortunes began to dwindle and by 2009 it was almost out of the chart. However, in 2010, the company has refused to be bogged down by that misfortune but admitted that though those periods were trying times, they also helped in strengthening its operations to what it has become at the moment.

True to its attestation, the company churned out new Xperia varieties which it showcased as it unveil its African footprints in Mombasa Kenya, last week.

Xperia Android

The products are for the upward mobile. Being communication and entertainment tools, delivered in a collection of smartphones they are expected to give consumers choice in size and style and launch the company back into the African mobile market

The products, Xperia x10, x10 mini and x10 mini pro smartphones, according to Sony Ericsson, would all receive software upgrades during their lifecycle to improve performance and add new communication and entertainment experiences.

The products are running on Google Android operating system, which the company said was important to bring it back to the top of the market.

Targeting the top spot of the mobile market again, the company said it has decided to concentrate on smart phones since it already has about 20 percent hold on the Android market segment.

Unveiling its strategies to lead the market again, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Marketing, Patricia Wand, said that  “Sony Ericsson’s vision is to be the communication entertainment brand. We are focusing strongly on the smartphone market and specifically on creating the most entertaining smartphones. Sony Ericsson is uniquely positioned to do this armed with our experience in creating Walkman and Cybershot phones and the strong collaboration with our parent company Sony.”

Meanwhile, Wand noted that the company which used to have strong presence in only three of African countries of Nigeria, Morocco and Mdagascar has in 2010b added mor footprints,extending strong presence to Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Congo DR among others.

She promised that Nigeria was the company’s port of call after the Xperia launch in Kenya.
For her, Xperia smartphones add best-in-class entertainment on top of smartphone fundamentals such as applications, maps, email and fast internet connection to create the most entertaining smartphones.

The Xperia X10 is the flagship of the Xperia collection and has an 8.1 megapixel camera and 4-inch screen for best in class multimedia creation and viewing. Signature applications imbued in the phone, such as Mediascape and Timescape helps the user to organise content and bring‘ multimedia and communication alive.

In addition to features and applications, Sony Ericsson also said it attaches much importance to design because it is essential to the entertainment experience. Sony Ericsson’s human curvature design philosophy is applied across the portfolio to package the technology into products that look and feel great. Using design innovation, Sony Ericsson makes the Xperia smartphones available with a choice of size and style.

Just recently, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia X8, which will build on the success of the X10 and the mini products and extend the most entertaining smartphones collection to an even broader audience.
Just like the X10 series, Xperia X8 will also receive software upgrades during the product lifecycle to improve performance and add new communication and entertainment experiences for end consumers.

Wand said the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 is a great entertainment smartphone that extends the appeal of the Xperia collection to new market segments.

The user interface is similar to that of the Xperia X10 mini, with the four-corners that give easy one hand use and can be customised for one touch access to favourite applications.