Despite Moving Mobile Division In-House, Sony Mobile Still Isolated From Sony

After Sony had announced that it would fully take over Sony Ericsson and buy out its partner Ericsson’s investment in the joint venture, it was believed–and hoped–that with Sony in full control at the helm of the new Sony Mobile, things would change for the smartphone division and there would be more synergies between Sony’s organization and the mobile arm. That, however, remains to be seen, and despite having moved the mobile arm under the Sony umbrella, Sony Mobile remains still isolated outside of Sony Corporation.

In an interview with The Verge at Mobile World Congress, Sony Mobile marketing manager Stephen Sneeden revealed that Sony and Sony Mobile are indeed separate organizations. When The Verge editor Chris Ziegler asked Sneeden about the possibility of integrating the Playstation Vita OS found on the new PS Vita handheld console on the next Sony Mobile phone, Sneeden replied, “Wat happens in the future, we don’t know, but right now Sony and Sony Mobile are separate organizations.” He adds that “I’ll let you speak to the Playstation group about that.”

After Sony had launched the Xperia Play smartphone under the old Sony Ericsson brand about a year ago, it was thought that there would be more synergies between various elements of Sony’s vast electronics empire. The company had also begun adding technologies from its camera department–like image sensors and processing power–as well as its TV and display division–like the Bravia Mobile engine–to mobile products. However, complete integration and synergy still falls short, it seems.

Whether a Vita OS smartphone is in the works or not, it appears that Sony Mobile is not closing any open doors just yet. The company admits in the interview that Android is the logical sense right now, but says that it is open to other options as well: “The market has decided loudly on Android… it doesn’t eliminate us from examining other opportunities, but you see where we are right now. We’re very much focused on Android, and we’re very confident in Android in its relevance and its prominence in the market.”

In the past, largely due to Sony Ericsson’s old partnership with Microsoft with Windows Mobile, there have been rumors that Sony/Sony Ericsson would also release a Windows Phone 7 handset. So far, there have been numerous leaks, with some depicting prototypes, but Sony at least is riding on Android’s coattails.

Despite the various divisional segregation and separation, Sony head Kaz Hirai at least is promoting a unified One Sony campaign at MWC to try to leverage the powers and opportunities that each division could bring to a product in another division.