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Sony Ericsson unveils new smartphones

Swedish-Japanese handset maker Sony Ericsson unveiled its new smartphones on Sunday as it seeks to close the gap on its main competitors.

Published: 15 February 2010 16:10 CET
Sony Ericsson unveils new smartphones
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro

Sony Ericsson showed its new multi-media handsets in Barcelona, Spain, on the eve of the industry’s biggest annual gathering, the Mobile World Congress.

The company trails far behind Nokia, iPhone-maker Apple and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) in the market for smartphones, devices with Internet, emails, music players and games.

Sony Ericsson is the world’s fifth biggest mobile phone maker and a pioneer of the smartphone segment, but the firm has lost ground in recent years.

Its chief, Bert Nordberg, conceded in Barcelona on Sunday that the company had gone through a “turbulent year”.

The company unveiled its first Android smartphone, Xperia X10, in November.

On Sunday, it displayed its touch-screen “little brothers”, the X10 Mini and the X10 Pro.

Sony Ericsson will also launch Vivaz Pro, which includes high-definition video and works under Nokia’s Symbian operating system.

Consumers have shown a big appetite for smartphones.

While global shipments of handsets grew by 10 percent in the last quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2008, smartphones jumped 30 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.

And while handset sales are expected to grow by nine percent this year, smartphones will skyrocket by 46 percent, according to Gartner.

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ECONOMY

How to choose the right mobile phone plan in Switzerland

Arriving in Switzerland - or already living here - there are hundreds of mobile phone plans to choose from. Here’s how to get the cheapest deal.

Published: 15 July 2020 17:11 CEST
How to choose the right mobile phone plan in Switzerland
Choosing the right mobile phone contract in Switzerland can be hard. Photo: STEFAN WERMUTH / AFP

A comparison of mobile phone offers by comparison portal Dschungelkompass and Switzerland’s Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz has shown which providers offer the cheapest deals in Switzerland. 

The research shows that finding the right provider does not only depend on the company in question – but also on what kind of phone user you are. 

Infrequent users

Not glued to your phone like a teenager on TikTok? Then prepaid offers are likely to be the best for you. 

The study found that the CHF9.90 monthly deal from Mucho Mobile is the most economical deal in Switzerland, netting you a 60 minutes of call time, 10 SMS messages and 300 megabytes of data. 

READ: Our readers on the best mobile phone plans in Switzerland

Sunrise, Lidl and TalkTalk also have offers which cost between CHF10 and CHF12 a month.

The researchers however said that paying a bit more will bring users plenty in terms of value for money, particularly if taking a flat rate. 

Oliver Zadori, from Dschungelkompass, said “if you are not regularly abroad or make calls abroad, you can do without expensive subscriptions and travel better with a low flat rate, even if additional roaming charges are incurred for a stay abroad.”

Flat rate users

By spending around CHF25 to CHF30 per month, customers can get a flat rate on calls, texts and downloads from several companies – although the larger Swiss telcos seem to be a bit pricer than the smaller ones. 

Yallo and Lebara currently offer the cheapest mobile phone flat rates for CHF25 each per month. Conversely, Salt's flat rate costs CHF 39.95 – CHF40 for Sunrise and CH 55 for Swisscom.

Yallo’s flat rate has a minimum for one month and Lebara for two, meaning you don’t need to sign a long-term contract for 12 or in some cases 24 months. 

Promotional offers the way to go

The following table shows the findings of the researchers. One major recommendation is to look at which promotional offers are available as these are usually cheaper. 

Zadori said consumers should look to find the right promotional offer, although timing was a major factor in finding the best deal. 

“Promotional offers have become more important in recent years. If you subscribe to the right subscription at the right time, you can save a lot of money,” Zadori said. 

Image: Dschungelkompass

This article has been prepared as a guide only based on research completed by Switzerland’s Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz and Dschungelkompass. The Local Switzerland does not receive a commission from any of the above companies. 

 

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