14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Ericsson seems to have outperformed Nokia as the largest vendor of 3G mobile phones. While not saying that Nokia makes better 3G phones than Sony Ericsson, it's hardly believable that the Finish manufacturer's handsets could sell less than Sony Ericsson's, simply because most customers prefer Nokia.
There is, of course, a catch to this, since the report is referring to sales on the Taiwanese market in February. This information was revealed by Sony Ericsson Taiwan's president Steve Yeh. According to a report from Economic Daily News, mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson held a 40 percent market share in the Taiwan 3G handset segment. The K610i that was available for a price starting at NT$3,999 (approximately $120 US) was the top-selling 3G mobile phone in the country for three months in a row, gaining a 3.6 percent share on the market.
This doesn't end here and the two phone companies will soon compete on the 3.5G segment as well, starting the third quarter of this year when Nokia's N95 is set to start shipping and Sony Ericsson releases the Z750. The aforementioned handsets are the first 3.5G handsets to be launched on the Taiwan market in the case of both manufacturers.
The ratio of 3G mobile phones to total handsets on the Taiwan market expanded from 20 percent at the end of last year to 26 percent in February. Shipments of 3G handsets are expected to reach two million units by the end of the year. Just a couple of days ago, Sony Ericsson has also released three new handsets in Taiwan, the W610i, W200i and Z310i that come with price tags of NT$10,990, NT$6,900 and NT$4,980 respectively.