By Kim Yoo-chul
Sony-Ericsson is planning to further boost its exclusive partnership with SK Telecom, as it begins to sell its latest Xperia Arc Android smartphone here.
SK Telecom has been the nation's sole provider of Sony-Ericsson's Xperia handsets since 2009.
Around 100,000 Xperia phones have been sold in Korea through the mutual alliance, officials and industry executives said.
SK Telecom spokeswoman Kim Ji-won declined to give specific numbers, similarly followed by Lucy Park, a local representative for Sony-Ericsson.
SK Telecom is set to begin carrying the super-sexy if slightly bulky Xperia Arc from April, locally, with SK keen to offer it to its smartphone customers.
"It's been confirmed that Sony's latest smartphone will be released by SK Telecom's local network from next month," said Kim.
She added some technical issues such as the amount of subsidies to users and pricing plans haven’t been fixed yet.
Sony is known to have released its devices cheaper than existing premium smartphones such as Apple's iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S by Samsung Electronics as part of its aggressive pricing strategy.
On Monday it was announced the updated Xperia will run Android's mobile based Gingerbread with a 4.2-inch display, named as the "Reality Display" by Sony-Ericsson. The screen size is larger than its predecessor the Xperia 10’s 4-inches it said.
The display is also adapted from Sony’s line of Bravia televisions, in color and sharpness.
The Arc is packed with a 1GHz processor under an extremely slim profile at just 8.7-millimeters at its thinnest point.
The back of the phone is uniquely curved and proved to be quite ergonomic in users' hands, Sony officials said at the local product launch held in a Seoul hotel.
"This year will mark the third year for Sony-Ericsson since our advance in South Korea. With the introduction of this phone we hope for better attention amid the rapidly growing local smartphone market," said Han Yeon-hee, the chief of Sony's Korean office.
Han said its existing Xperia 10 customers will receive upgrade services to Gingerbread soon as a part of Sony’s initiatives for faster market proliferation.
"We saw a steady market growth in Korea and believe the new model will pave the way for us to take more of the local smartphone sector," the Sony executive told reporters.
The announcement came just a month after SK’s long-time exclusive partner Motorola of the United States recently ended the alliance in an attempt to sell more of its Droid phones.
When asked about a detailed sales target for the device, the executive said, "We are aiming at producing the most-wanted wow product. Now, chances are high to achieve the goals."
With help from Sony, Apple and Samsung Electronics, biggest the Korean carrier plans to maintain its current lead despite growing attacks from its main local rival KT, according to SK Telecom officials.