Sony phasing out feature phones, banking on Smartphones

By Mike Dunn October 27, 2011

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Sony buying out Ericsson to own the phone company outright Sony makes a bombshell announcement. Howard Stringer, Sony’s president and CEO, said today “We’re phasing out feature phones.” Stringer has yet to outline exactly how quickly the phasing out process will take.

With smartphone prices dropping every day it seems as though it’s only a matter of time until every phone on the market will be a smartphone. The price issue that comes into play would be the monthly service fee, which we are sure not everyone is willing to pay. We are curious about if or when other large cell phone manufacturers will follow suit.

One hurdle that Sony might be facing is the never ending patent lawsuits surrounding Android smartphones. As of right now all of Sony Ericsson smartphones run Android, so basically Sony’s move today is banking on Google’s OS. With Apple’s latest patent for unlocking touchscreens Android phone makers have to be losing some sleep over the possible ramifications.

It is doubtful that Sony will be making its own operating system, so that only leaves three options for Sony.

1.) It can stick solely on Android and hope for the best.

2.) It can branch out to make a Windows Phone 7 devices in addition to Android.

3.) It can blow everyone’s minds and buy webOS from HP.

Most likely it will stick solely with Android, but it is always fun to guess what might happen. How soon will HTC or Motorola follow Sony’s lead and phase out feature phones?

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