For a company like Sony Ericsson, every year should be an important year. They’re a company that’s been receiving a lot of flack, and while they’d love to say that their products speak for themselves, well, that’s a stance they probably don’t want to take. They’ve got a couple devices coming down the pipeline that are eye-catching, but in the end it comes down to the details, and SE might have missed the mark yet again. But that’s not stopping them from pushing out phones. All told, the company plans to unveil 16 new devices in the UK and Ireland, which includes the Fabulous Five.
According to Nathan Vautier, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Sales in the UK and Ireland, the Vivaz and X10 are key components to Sony Ericsson’s launch strategy. Even if people are eyeballing the X10 for its already out-dated Operating System, SE is banking on the fact that it is bringing something new to the table, by offering up their own customized User Interface, dubbed “Rachael.” But the most interesting part would be the admittance of 16 new devices hitting store shelves this year. While it’s conceivable that not all of these new phones will be of the high-end persuasion, stranger things have happened. Vautier also wanted to make clear that the Walkman-based products aren’t going anywhere any time soon, so we can imagine that those products will be making up quite a bit of stock. To prove his point, he added that several Walkman products would be issued by the mid-year, and all for around £100.
Vautier wanted to also touch on the comments regarding Sony Ericsson’s quality of products. Not surprisingly, he provided a stalwart answer: Sony Ericsson is taking the necessary steps to improve the situation. He provided several different methods to which they are obtaining this, such as restructuring their Key Performance Indicator (KPI), so that it is more focused on qualitative measures. And while we hope that SE is indeed doing their best to improve the overall quality of their handsets, there’s only so much you can do if one of your Fabulous Five handsets is already out-dated, well before its launch. Hopefully customers don’t take this the wrong way, and can hold out long enough to get the promised software upgrade when it comes out later this year.
[via Se-ense]
