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LONDON - Ericsson AB and Sony Corp. have agreed to merge their mobile-phone terminal businesses in a joint venture to be known as Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd.
The company will be based in London and begin operations on Oct. 1. Each companywill take a 50 percent stake in the venture, which will leave Ericsson free to concentrate on mobile-phone infrastructure equipment, in which it is a world leader.
The venture will initially employ about 3,500 workers worldwide, with 1,000 coming from Sony and 2,500 from Ericsson. Sony is putting between $300 million and $500 million into the venture, said Katsumi Ihara, a corporate executive vice president of Sony who has been tapped to serve as president of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
The entity is to be self-contained, with responsibility for product research, design, development, marketing, sales, distribution and customer service. It will market existing product lines under the Ericsson and Sony brands but is chartered to create a range of products under a unified brand. Those products...