Sony Ericsson has admitted that they have made many mistakes in 2010 with their Android line-up, and they promise that they’ve learned their lessons and 2011 will be a much better year for their products. But I remain skeptical, at least until Sony Ericsson proves that they have changed, and for now it doesn’t look like that they have changed too much.
SE’s main problem is that their product cycle is way too slow. While other companies like HTC, Motorola and Samsung can make a next gen phone within 10 months (not just a variation of a model), SE’s product cycle time is like 15 months if you take a look at the Xperia X10. It was announced long before it came to the market, and I think the main delay was because of their extreme customization of Android. If they’d actually listen to the market, and see that people want stock Android, their products would come to the market a lot faster.
This may be the case with their next phones Xperia Play and Xperia Arc, which means they have at least learned half of the lesson, but it still seems like they are falling behind in hardware once again. While the most cutting edge competitors are announcing dual core phones with other impressive specs, SE is announcing 2 phones, that by the time of launch will be considered mid-end instead of high-end.
SE needs to learn from LG if they want to get their credibility back in the Android smartphone world. They need to try to be the “first” in the most cutting edge technology, but also while trying to have the latest software and keeping their phones updates. They need to make some Tegra 2 phones, or if they miss this boat, they should try to get the license from Nvidia now for Tegra 3, and try to be the first with a Tegra 3 just like LG will be the first with a Tegra 2 phone.
I’ll sum it up here for SE, what they need to get their mojo back and succeed in the smartphone market:
1) Cutting edge hardware specs and beautiful design (delivered fast and on time)
2) Latest stock version of Android (there are other ways to differentiate besides skinning Android – just look at Motorola Atrix)
3) Fast and as many updates as possible to your Android phone line-up
Follow these 3 principles, SE, and you will be once again in the A-team in the smartphone market.
