Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint Steps Down

Hideki "Dick" Komiyama will replace Miles Flint, the Sony Ericsson executive who drove the firm into the front ranks of cell phone consumer acceptance, the company said on Tuesday.

The company said Flint "has decided to step down from his position as president of Sony Ericsson."

Komiyama, now chairman of Sony Electronics Inc. USA, will take over Nov. 1, Sony Ericsson said, prompting immediate speculation that the London-based firm will draw on Komiyama's experience and status in the U.S. to attack North American markets more aggressively.

The company, which is a partnership between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, said Flint would serve as an executive advisor to Komiyama through the end of the year. After that, Flint said he would take a short career break before pursuing "new personal and business opportunities."

In recent months, Flint had targeted emerging markets like India and Latin America as potentially productive areas for Sony Ericsson to gain market share over the mobile phone big three of Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung. In market share rankings for mobile phones, Sony Ericsson had recently increased its share of market from 6.6% to 9%, according to IDC.

Flint moved Sony Ericsson ahead largely by pushing Walkman music phones and Cyber-shot imaging phones and promoting them in international markets.