Sony Ericsson Employee Steals Phone Prototypes

According to the latest news on the Web, the Swedish police announced on Wednesday that a number of Sony Ericsson mobile phone prototypes had been stolen and found in the home of a company employee. A Sony Ericsson spokesperson confirmed that some prototypes had been stolen by an employee, but gave no further details on the matter.

It seems that the devices were withdrawn on the night between Monday and Tuesday, while the police were informed and pointed towards the employee yesterday. The person is reported to be already taken into custody, while the police are conducting interrogations since. No details regarding what was revealed were disclosed yet, and Sony Ericsson is keeping the situation under silence.

It’s still unclear what the person was planning on doing with the prototypes, which would have been worth about $90,000, according to the police. On the other hand, if the devices went to the competition, they would have been able to provide information on how the company was moving on long term, which was what made them quite valuable, stated Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless at The 451 Group.

At the same time, he said that it would be rather awkward to see a company consorting with a criminal so as to get a glimpse at upcoming phones. More common is the situation where employees leak photos and specifications on next-to-come devices to gadget blogs. Given this, only in rare cases does a phone get to the launch day without information on it being already revealed to the public.

One company that managed to keep a handset under wraps is considered to be Palm, as the specs of its new Pre smartphone were almost unknown at the time of the official announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

Sony Ericsson's sales have been lower in the past few months, compared to the same period a year before. In the third quarter, the company was placed third after surpassing LG Electronics and Motorola.