Sony could buy out Ericsson from joint venture

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Sony is in talks with Ericsson to buy it out of the companies' mobile-phone joint venture, Sony Ericsson. Sony Ericsson is a fifty-fifty split joint venture that was created in 2001.

The sources say that Sony's goal with buying out Ericsson and venturing back into the mobile phone market on its own is to integrate its mobile phone business with its existing tablet and consumer device businesses. The negotiations between the two companies are still on-going, and could fall apart at any time, says one source. A price for how much Sony would pay to buy out Ericsson was not provided, but analysts say that Ericsson's stake could be worth $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion.

These reports are not the first time that we have heard of Sony and Ericsson looking to break ties, but talks have failed in the past thanks to poor performance from the joint venture. Sony Ericsson made a profit last year, the first time in a few years, and that could be an incentive for the companies to part ways now. Neither company offered a comment on the rumored split.