The story behind Sony Ericsson and UIQ Technology

Clearly important to Sony Ericsson's decision to acquire UIQ Technology is that they have chosen UIQ on Symbian OS as the platform for many of their future phones. Rumours have suggested it was a fight between Symbian and Linux. However with the acquisition of UIQ Technology, Sony Ericsson has made a clear choice. Up until now UIQ has only been found in its high end P series phones. The announcement of the M600 and the W950 gave the first hint that this was changing and Sony Ericsson talked in a very positive way about UIQ at the recent Symbian Smartphone Show (and even more so at the AAS pub meet the night before). It seems likely that Sony Ericsson's future strategy will see it follow a path similar to that of Nokia and S60. In the coming years we can probably expect to see a portfolio of Sony Ericsson UIQ devices, including the non touchscreen, one handed devices made possible by UIQ 3.

From a business and strategic point of view bringing UIQ Technology back in house makes sense. Sony Ericsson will have a greater say in the direction of the UIQ platform. It should also save itself licensing costs. This is thought to be around $2-4 per unit, and although current UIQ phone volume is not significant by S60 standards this could change rapidly. It is easy to see that 2008 might see volumes of 10's of millions.

The acquisition does raise questions about licensing UIQ to other manufacturers. Sony Ericsson will continue to allow this, but given Nokia's relative lack of success (at least compared to its own volumes) in licensing S60 it is not clear how successful this will be. Other manufacturers are understandably wary of licensing software from a competitor. However, with both Samsung and LG set to continue their portfolio of S60 devices and suggestions of Motorola's continuing interest in UIQ, the idea of UI licensing is still very much alive.