Loss-making handset vendor Sony Ericsson has unveiled three new feature phones that will launch later this year in time for the key holiday sales season. The phones are the ‘Aino’, a device that integrates with parent-company Sony’s PlayStation3 games console; the ‘Satio’ (previously known as the ‘Idou’ when first announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in February), which features a 12-megapixel camera; and the ‘Yari,’ which boasts gesture sensor functionality to allow gaming in a similar manner to the Nintendo Wii. The Aino (pictured left) uses a system called Remote Play, initially developed for the PSP (PlayStation Portable), that enables users to control and access media content on PlayStation3 via the phone. A Reuters article hailed the phone as a sign of greater integration between Sony and Sony Ericsson. “At last there’s a co-operation between a Sony product and a Sony Ericsson phone,” said Ben Wood of UK-based research firm CCS Insight. “Previously, it was just branding. We see it as a statement of intent.”

According to the latest Gartner figures, Sony Ericsson slipped to fifth place in terms of global phone shipments in 1Q09, as its market share declined to 5.4 percent compared to 7.5 percent in the year-earlier quarter. Last month, the company reported a first-quarter pretax loss of EUR358 million after sales dropped 36 percent from the year earlier. It is currently implementing a cost-cutting programme that aims to reduce annual operating expenses by EUR400 million, to be completed by mid-2010. Analysts have estimated that the two parent companies (Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson) could each need to make a capital injection of EUR500 million in the unit before the end of the year. A separate Reuters report today cites Sony Ericsson chief executive Hideki Komiyama as stating that the global mobile phone market will grow from Q3 or Q4 this year, but he remains unsure as to whether his company needs extra funds.