The move is temporary, pending a fix to the fault in Satio that causes the handset to switch off when certain applications are selected by the user. Carphone Warehouse said in a staemet on the Sony Satio recall: "From time to time we experience issues with new handsets, and their software, which may result in a customer experience that is below our usually high standards. We want customers to have complete confidence and satisfaction in the handsets they buy from us, which is why we have temporarily withdrawn the Sony Ericsson Satio from sale. We are working closely with Sony Ericsson to restock the Satio phone as soon as possible and will offer any customer who returns a faulty Satio an exchange of phone."
The news that mobile retailers have withdrawn the Sony Ericsson Satio handset from sale has illustrated the growing difficulty for mobile handset manufacturers to produce devices that are bug free, commented system and device testing company, Fanfare.
In recent months, both RIM and Nokia have faced similar problems of quality with the Storm and N97 handsets respectively.
With the advent of Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G networks just around the corner, and the battle for smartphone supremacy continuing to heat up in the approach to Christmas, the quality and performance of devices has never been more important, said David Gehringer , vice president of marketing at Fanfare, has said the following of the news: “Having retailers withdraw the Satio from sale is devastating news for Sony Ericsson.
“The mobile phone market has never been more competitive with handset manufacturers releasing increasingly advanced phones faster than ever. Inevitably, many phone makers have found the pressure to rush too great, and have ended up stumbling, releasing inferior products to market. What’s more, another challenge of handset software defects is that end users are likely to call their service provider first, thinking it is a service or network problem; handset quality impacts on more than just the consumer, it drives costs to service providers as well, tarnishing the relationship between hardware vendor and carrier,” he continued.
Gehringer added: “With 4G around the corner, the complexity of handsets will only continue to increase. Companies like Sony Ericsson will need to begin focusing on the proper testing of handsets and applications to prevent more incidents like the Satio withdrawal.”