Yesterday’s launch of new high-end Walkman and CyberShot cellphones by Sony Ericsson is being seen as a pre-emptive strike against the upcoming iPhone by market analysts [CNN Money], with the London-based company looking to further cement their reputation as makers of feature-rich handsets.  Given that the bulk of SE’s income comes from the top end of the market – unlike rival firms who have concentrated on the straightforward, basic low-end – the June 29th launch of the iPhone in the US  could have particular impact on both the photography and portable music reputation they’ve been so careful to establish over the past two years.

With global numbers of Walkman-branded Sony Ericsson cellphones reaching 26.5 million handsets, and for the first time the music-enabled mobile market exceeding standalone mp3-player sales, the company will be hoping that previously criticised areas such as PC/Mac integration and synchronisation software will, thanks to recent upgrades, be enough to stave off the popular iTunes media suite.

One area in which SE will still exceed is on pure specifications.  Yes, their new range of handsets – which you can see over at our sibling-site SlashPhone – lack the wow-factor of the iPhone’s multitouch screen, but features like a 5-megapixel autofocus camera (as found on the K850i) and speedy media downloads thanks to HSDPA (as with the W910 Walkman phone) far exceed the capabilities of Apple’s first attempt at the market.

It remains to be seen whether the flexibility of a broad product range and willingness to allow carrier subsidies will see Sony Ericsson retain their position as fourth-largest manufacturer in the face of the iPhone.