Sony Ericsson to release handsets in Korea next year [Sat Dec 30, 09:17AM]

Sounds unlikely but until now there are still no Sony Ericsson handsets available in Korea. The world's fourth-largest mobile phone maker by shipments, plans to enter the highly competitive South Korean mobile phone market in 2007, a Korean wireless service operator said this week.

"Sony Ericsson is in talks with Korean mobile carriers about installing the WiFi wireless Internet platform on its phones to be launched in Korea," said a spokesman for SK Telecom, Korea's leading mobile carrier by subscribers.

Sony Ericsson may launch high-end phones in Korea in the second half of 2007, when HSDPA is commercialized, the spokesman said. SK Telecom hasn't yet decided whether to buy mobile phones from Sony Ericsson, he said. Officials at Sony Ericsson couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

South Korean manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics dominate the domestic handset market. In South Korea, around 40 million people out of a population of 48 million carry at least one mobile phone.