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"Sony Corporation has acquired Ericsson's stake in mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson.\nThe deal will place Ericsson's 50% stake in the joint venture under Sony's control. Sony will also acquire five wireless technology \"patent families.\" The two companies have also entered into a cross-licensing agreement for their intellectual property. \nAs part of the transaction, Ericsson will receive a \u20AC1.05 billion cash payment from Sony. That values the deal at $1.47 billion at current market prices.\n\"This acquisition 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,\" Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said in a statement sent to Mashable.\nSony says that acquiring all of Sony Ericsson will enhance its \"four-screen strategy\" \u2014 televisions, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. The company intends to not only sell devices in all four categories, but sell content there as well through the PlayStation Network and the Sony Entertainment Network. Sony also has a large presence in film as well, thanks to Sony Pictures.\nSony and Ericsson started their joint venture in 2001 in an effort to turn their unprofitable mobile handset divisions around. The company has focused on Android devices in recent years with the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play, best known as the \"PlayStation Phone.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/10/26/sony-ericsson/>