Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia Ray and Active, two high-end Android smartphones, including one that's water-proof, as the company looks to turnaround its struggling handset business.
Meanwhile, the Active is geared toward users with active lifestyles. The phone is built to withstand dust and water, allowing consumers to use devices in less-than-perfect conditions. The 3-inch touch screen can also handle wet or sweaty hands. It also features apps to monitor heart rate and pulse.
The pricing and availability of the devices will be announced at a later date.
"Android smartphones is a rapidly growing part of the market, and we see our share within that market growing," said Steve Walker, Sony Ericsson's chief marketing officer, to the AP.
The company hopes the two new devices boost its current 11 percent market share of the Android platform.
The beleaguered handset maker, which has seen its sales drop 23 percent in the first quarter alone, compared to a year ago, is now looking to move to more mid-to-high end phones rather than low-end devices.
In addition, Sony Ericsson plans to focus on the Asia-Pacific region, where, according to Walker, by 2015, 60 percent of mobile phones sold in the market will be smartphones.
"We made quite a fundamental shift in strategy and decided to focus a large part of our efforts into smartphones, to focus on the mid- and high-end part of the business," Walker said. "In many markets, we see a dramatic shift from feature phones to smartphones."
Sony Ericsson seems primed to make a strong impression in the high-end smartphone market, especially now with the backing of the popular Android operating system.
The company said smartphones accounted for more than 60 percent of sales during the first quarter of 2011.
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