Red Jade

The Red Jade was Ericsson's unreleased handheld console, intended to compete with the Game Boy Advance. Originally the developing team for the Red Jade approached Sony and Sega as potential partners but both declined. Ericsson decided to invest US$10 million in the Red Jade, which was supposed to have PDA functions, wireless connectability, DivX movies, cell phone capabilities, a GPS server, a digital camera, MP3 audio playback, a web browser, the ability to download games from the website, game sharing utilizing Bluetooth technology, and graphics equivalent to the PlayStation. It was to be released in late 2001 and would have retailed for $150. When overall sales plummeted, Ericsson cancelled the Red Jade before production in April 2001 and cut 22,000 employees to help minimize losses. The number of existing prototype units is unclear along with possibility of games made for them. Ericsson's mobile phone division later divested into joint venture with Sony and rebranded as Sony Ericsson, until Sony acquired Ericsson's share and became Sony Mobile Communications.