Cell phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson
plans to close six offices across the world and will move its North
American office from North Carolina to Atlanta.
Sony Ericsson
spokespeople told the Associated Press that it will close the
following facilities: Research Triangle Park, N.C.; San Diego;
Seattle; Miami; Chennai, India; and Kista, Sweden.
It
will now focus on product development in Tokyo; Beijing; Redwood
Shores, Calif.; and Lund, Sweden.
The company cut 2,000 jobs
in 2008 and will
finish cutting 2,000 additional jobs in 2009 before the end of
the year.
Atlanta was chosen as the new headquarters
since it is "a gateway into Latin America," according to a
Sony Ericsson spokesperson. Furthermore, the company wants to
be close to AT&T, as the wireless subscriber is one of its best
clients.
North Carolina state officials were disappointed,
especially since the phone manufacturer reportedly didn't communicate
much with the state before making the decision to leave.
Sony
Ericsson's core business unit of music-enabled phones has suffered
due to the increase in popularity of smartphones. The
struggling phone manufacturer recently introduced
a Google Android-powered smartphone, showing it understands a
vital change must be made.
The company faces an uphill battle
in its attempt to compete with Apple, Research In Motion, Samsung,
and other manufacturers who have more experience in developing
smartphones.
