Sony Ericsson: Microsoft mobile is on track

Sony Ericsson on Monday ditched rumours that its first mobile phone powered by Microsoft's operating system would miss the key Christmas sales period.

Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia 1 model in February, saying it would start to sell the phone in the second half of 2008 in selected markets.

On Monday, and over the weekend, several technology blogs, and Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, reported delays in product rollout, quoting rumours and unnamed sources at Sony Ericsson.

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A Sony Ericsson spokeswoman said: "There is absolutely no delay. The product is on track. We have said it will roll out in Q4, and we are on target to do that."

Phone makers usually unveil new models months ahead of starting sales but introducing new phones more than six months ahead of sales is relatively uncommon.

With Sony Ericsson joining the list of Windows users, all the world's top handset makers apart from Nokia will offer Windows Mobile phones.

Despite years of investments, Microsoft has struggled to appeal to mobile users, and has won only around 10 per cent market share among smart phones.

Stiff competition from other platforms - especially RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone - have hurt demand for Microsoft-based products, and the software giant missed its 20 million phone sales target for the year to June 2008.

Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight, said: "The challenge for manufacturers is that Windows Mobile 6.1 is struggling to meet the high expectations that devices like the iPhone have set for top-tier phones. To try and overcome its shortcomings we've seen companies like HTC, Samsung, and now Sony Ericsson go to great lengths to reskin Windows Mobile in order to deliver something that is more appealing to mainstream consumers."