A few weeks back, we reported that Sony is planning to go it alone as a mobile phone manufacturer and have plans of buying the shares of Ericsson and effectively end the Sony-Ericsson partnership.

Now that Sony has made good on its plans and is now the sole owner of the Sony Ericsson phone company, the electronics manufacturer is now preparing new plans as it moves forward. The latest news from the Sony camp is that it will begin phasing out its feature phones and concentrate solely on smartphones in the future.

The decision to exclusively make smartphones was announced by Sony President and CEO Howard Stringer. He announced that Sony will be “phasing out feature phones.” No concrete plans or moves were shared by Stringer in the announcement, including how much time the phase out process will take.

Sony’s move may be a logical one in the long term. The prices of smart phones are dropping significantly with every product released and this trend may be an indication that at some point in the near future, every single phone on the market will be a smartphone. With the prices of phones dropping, the price war will now shift to the service providers as they try to compete with offering the best value for money plans. The effects of Sony’s decision will definitely be closely watched by other mobile phone manufacturers and if it proves that Sony made the right move, it’s just a matter of time before the other manufacturers follow suit.

It will be interesting to find out if Sony will throw its hat exclusively for the Android OS or if it will also dip its toes into the Microsoft pool by making Windows Phones.

Related posts:

1. Is Sony planning to buy off Ericsson?
2. Sony Ericsson Pushes Two Android Phones, Xperia X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro
3. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness for $999, Comes with Concierge Service
4. T-Mobile UK Customers Get Sony Ericsson’s Android Phone, Xperia X10
5. Short Video of Sony Ericsson’s Android Phone, Xperia X3/X10 on YouTube