Orange taps Sony Ericsson to spearhead music strategy

Pan-European operator Orange today selected Sony Ericsson as its lead partner in the carrier's mobile music strategy, agreeing to market and sell Sony Ericsson's growing line of Walkman music phones across its European footprint and signing an exclusive nine-month deal with Sony BMG star Christina Aguilera to promote the service.

Sony Ericsson and Orange will jointly market Sony Ericsson's multi-tiered line of music phones, ranging from the high-end W810i down to the W300i, Sony Ericsson's first mass-market phone that will be priced below $250 before subsidy. Sony Ericsson will also optimize its handset user interface to conform to Orange's new Signature portal and interface, creating a common platform across Sony Ericsson and other handset vendors' products. Both companies said this deal is the largest joint marketing commitment either company has made to date.

Sony Ericsson has seen surprising success with its new Walkman line, despite it being overshadowed by the enormous media hype surrounding the launch of Motorola's ROKR phone embedded with Apple's iTunes software. The first Walkman phone launched in August and within five months, Sony Ericsson shipped more than 3 million devices, even though the only models available were the high-priced W800 and W600 lines. Sony Ericsson Vice President of Corporate Communications Cherie Gary said that sales figures far exceeded even the vendor's own expectations, which were projected at only a quarter of actual sales.

The marketing deal with Orange may boost Walkman sales even further. Though the Walkman phones have been available for more than six months, few carriers have promoted the phones, particularly in the U.S. Locked into a marketing deal with Motorola and Apple for the ROKR E1, Cingular has been offering the W600i on its network for several months with little fanfare, marketing it only on its Website.