Symbian Smartphone Show, London, October 17, 2006 – With all three UIQ 3 based phones shipping in volumes in the next few weeks, Sony Ericsson Developer World reports on the status and uptake of the applications development market.

The M600 messaging device, P990 smartphone and W950 Walkman® phone all have third party applications offered with the phones as free Try & Buy versions, with direct links to the Sony Ericsson Application Shop for download and purchase of the full versions. There are also some third party applications that Sony Ericsson has licensed and embedded as full versions on the phones or Memory Stick. Sony Ericsson has preloaded close to 30 different applications with its UIQ 3 based phones (see table below) and many more are available for download from the Sony Ericsson Application Shop, from Handango and other independent software sites. There are currently more than 150 UIQ 3 and Java ME based applications available for download from the Sony Ericsson Application Shop, all Symbian Signed and Java Verified so that consumers can safely download and install them knowing that they have been tested by an independent test house according to industry-agreed testing and certification criteria.

Ulf Wretling, Director and Head of Content Planning & Management at Sony Ericsson, commented, “Operator feedback and statistics from Handango in 2005 demonstrated that Sony Ericsson's previous smartphones generated as much as four to five times higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) than regular voice-centric mobile phones. The initial uptake in the new Motricity-powered Application Shop support the belief that this trend will continue for the new UIQ 3 phones.“

Sales increased significantly from August to September, and the first half of October indicates a continued positive download trend as all three UIQ phones are on the market, including the W950 shortly. The average purchase order in the Sony Ericsson Application Shop currently amounts to 42.70 USD. The new UIQ 3 phones represent 85% of the total UIQ application sales and the bestsellers are:

      1. Worldmate 2006 by MobiMate
      2. Handy Safe for UIQ 3 by Epocware
      3. Documents to Go by DataViz
      4. Handy Tools for UIQ 3 by Epocware
      5. IM+ For UIQ 3 by Shape Services
      6. Handy Day for UIQ 3 by Epocware
      7. SlovoEd DeLuxe English explanatory dictionary for Sony Ericsson by Epocware

Nadav Gur, CEO of MobiMate Ltd., stated, “As a Sony Ericsson Developer World partner we benefit from both their technical and go-to-market support, and we are very happy about the initial uptake in application sales for Sony Ericsson’s new UIQ 3-based phones. Since the release of the M600 and P990, we have seen Symbian UIQ software sales rising by a factor of 3, with UIQ again becoming one of the strongest mobile application platforms in terms of revenue generation. We have quickly recouped or investment in porting WorldMate to UIQ 3, and are expecting a very profitable holiday season through sales channels like the Sony Ericsson Application Shop.”

The top five countries for downloads from the Sony Ericsson Application Shop are in descending order the United Kingdom, Germany, India, United States and Sweden. China and the Russian Federation are following on sixth and eighth place, demonstrating that it’s not only in the Western world that end-users are keen on utilizing third party software to enrich their mobile lifestyle experience.

The Application Shop can be found at www.sonyericsson.com/applicationshop. More applications for Sony Ericsson’s new range of UIQ 3-based phones will follow.

The P990, M600 and W950 are all based on Symbian OS™ version 9.1 and the open software platform UIQ 3.0. They also support the Java™ ME Platform based CLDC (Connected Limited Device Configuration) environment. In addition, the P990 and M600 support the more advanced CDC (Connected Device Configuration) environment. Symbian OS and Java ME developers interested in creating applications for Sony Ericsson phones are encouraged to visit the Sony Ericsson Developer World portal at www.sonyericsson.com/developer to find everything they need to get started.

Sony Ericsson Developer World is a global support program and web portal totally dedicated to helping serious, wireless developers achieve business success by providing the documentation, tools, training, technical and go-to-market support they need in their development process. Sony Ericsson Developer World helps developers get on the fast track from mind to market, thereby ensuring that a constant stream of fun, useful and innovative content and applications is available for Sony Ericsson phones. www.SonyEricsson.com/developer

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001, with global corporate functions located in London, the company employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. Sony Ericsson celebrates the 5th anniversary of the start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006.

Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. The tour culminates at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, Spain, from 7 to 12 November. For more information on Sony Ericsson, please visit www.SonyEricsson.com