Sony Mobile Communications AB is a multinational mobile phone manufacturing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was founded on October 1, 2001 as a joint venture between Sony and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson. Sony acquired Ericsson's share in the venture on February 16, 2012. Sony Mobile Communications has research and development facilities in Lund, Sweden; Tokyo, Japan; Beijing, China; and Silicon Valley, United States. In 2009, it was the fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world . By 2010,... its market share had fallen to sixth place. In the United States, Ericsson partnered with General Electric in the early nineties, primarily to establish a US presence and brand recognition. Ericsson had decided to obtain chips for its phones from a single source—a Philips facility in New Mexico. In March 2000, a fire at the Philips factory contaminated the sterile facility. Philips assured Ericsson and Nokia that production would be delayed for no more than a week.
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