Helsinki (Finland): Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson has unveiled its new X10 flagship phone, its first model to be loaded with Google's Android operating system. However, the company said that the phone will not hit the market until early next year.
The X10 will have a four inch-wide touch screen, will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor and come with an 8.1 megapixel camera, according Reuters. Sony Ericsson's current top model Satio, with a 12 megapixel camera, has just gone on sale and the announcement could hurt sales in the key sales period ahead of year-end holidays. "I think some consumers will think about waiting until the first quarter to get their hands on the X10 rather than get a Satio for Christmas," said Gartner's Analyst Carolina Milanesi.
Loss-making Sony Ericsson, the world's fourth largest handset maker, has suffered since 2008 from a lack of attractive high-end models in its offering, and saw overall third-quarter sales shrink 45 percent year-on-year. Android has gained a lot of traction this year as handset vendors look for ways to beat Apple's iPhone. Recently, Motorola announced that it is all set to launch its Droid phone on November 6, which comes with the Google's operating system.
