Sony says 'no' to PSP phone
Sony Ericsson struggling, and the parent company isn’t helping
There are so many reasons for Sony to allow its telephonic subordinate, Sony Ericsson, to release a handset with PSP built in. For one, the PSP itself is floundering badly, and Sony recently put out a customer survey asking what punters wanted in a new handheld console – with many of the questions leaning toward iPhone-type functions.
With massive layoffs at Sony, coupled with Sony Ericsson losses of US$346 million having just been announced, there’s never been a better time to branch out with a potentially lucrative and under used brands – like the PSP. But according to MobileToday, Sony has refused the use of the PSP brand, stating that:
“In the past, we have been keen that our product proposition lives up to brand promise, and we feel at the moment the technical specs are not high enough to put such a prestigious brand on a phone.”
It’s understandable that Sony wants to make sure a PSP phone would remain functional, but that prestigious brand is becoming less and less prestigious every day. Taking the opportunity to tackle the N-Gage head on would be a wise move for Sony, and with the PSP’s back catalogue and brand recognition, it might even claw some points back from the iPhone.
But for the time being, it’s not to be.
