Sony buys out Ericsson's half of phone business

The Sony Ericsson 50:50 joint venture is coming to an end after 10 years. Rumblings from earlier in the month pointed to Sony's possible interest in ending the relationship, and it is now official as Sony Ericsson is set to fall strictly under the Sony umbrella through a deal worth €1.05 billion ($1.49 billion).

Sony has made pushes to get the PlayStation brand onto Android-based devices through the PlayStation Certified and PlayStation Suite programs. Sony CEO Howard Stringer says of the deal that the company can now "more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets, and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment."

This buyout also grants Sony control of Ericsson's mobile phone patents, and various other patents will be at its disposal through a cross-licensing deal. Also, a new initiative will see the companies work together to "drive and develop the market's adoption of connectivity across multiple platforms."

Announced in January, the PlayStation Suite and PlayStation Certified programs have been slow to get off the ground, with only two devices currently available sporting the branding. Sony Ericsson launched the PlayStation Certified Xperia Play gaming-focused Android handset early this year, and the Sony Tablet S became the second certified device early last month.

As of press time, Sony's stock was up nearly 7 percent, going from yesterday's end-of-trading stock price of $20.61 to $22.05 as of press time.