Japanese technology giant Sony has bought full control of mobile phone maker¹ Sony Ericsson from Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.

日本科技巨头索尼从瑞典电信设备制造商爱立信手中购买了移动电话索尼爱立信的所有控制权。

The new Sony subsidiary will only make smartphones from next year
Sony has agreed to buy 50% of the firm for 1.1bn euros, making the mobile handset business a wholly-owned subsidiary（子公司） of Sony.

Ericsson said that the "synergies（协同增效效应） " between telecoms equipment and mobile phones were decreasing.

The transaction also includes a patent deal.

Sony will get the five sets of patents that are essential to making the phones and a licensing² agreement on any other intellectual property.

Many observers expected this deal because Sony wanted to integrate its phone division with its mobile games machine and tablet computer units.

"This acquisition（获得） makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want," said Sony's chairman Sir Howard Stringer.

Earlier this month, Sony Ericsson broke even in its third quarter and announced it would focus on smartphones from 2012.

The company said its Xperia smartphones accounted for 80% of its sales. The handsets run Google's Android operating system.

Analysts³ said Sony had proved resistant⁴ to sharing its brands and other assets with the joint⁵ venture, explaining why it took until this year for PlayStation games to be offered on any of its handsets.