18.05.12
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The women’s tennis outing will lose its biggest sponsor after mobile-phone maker Sony Ericsson Movable Communications AB said it won’t extend its agreement when it expires next year.
Sony Ericsson signed a six-year condense worth $88 million in 2005, the largest sponsorship in tennis relation and women’s professional sports, to become the WTA Tour’s baptize sponsor. The company, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, dropped the naming rights last year when it signed a two-year appendage until Dec. 31, 2012.
“After seven years partnering with the WTA, we have decided not to renew the partnership,” Sony Ericsson spokeswoman Graciela Pineda said in an talk today. “We feel that after seven years our brand has evolved and our province as well.”
In October, Sony Corp. agreed to buy Ericsson AB’s stake in the junction venture for 1.05 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Sony Chairman Howard Stringer said at the continuously he wanted to change the mobile venture’s brand following the mete out. Sony Ericsson has turned to smartphones based on Android to lessen market portion losses amid competition from Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
Source: BusinessWeek