Sony Ericsson descends deeper into red with US$248 million Q4 loss

Handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson posted a fourth quarter net loss of €187 million (US$248 million), deepening from a €25 million loss in Q308, and from a profit of €373 million a year earlier.

Komiyama foresees a continued deterioration in the mobile handset market place in 2009, particularly in the first half

Handset shipments in Q408 were also down to 24.2 million, a drop of 5.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 21.4 per cent less than in the same quarter of 2007 when 30.8 million devices were shipped.

“In economic terms, 2008 has been a tumultuous year with world markets experiencing a serious downturn. The mobile phone market has been greatly affected by this and as expected, the fourth quarter continued to be very challenging for Sony Ericsson,” stated Dick Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson.

“Our business alignment is progressing as planned, with the full effect of annual savings of around €300 million expected by the second half of 2009. We foresee a continued deterioration in the market place in 2009, particularly in the first half,” Komiyama added.

Revenue was up 3.77 per cent from the previous quarter to €2.914 billion, but down 22.7 per cent from fourth quarter 2007. This was attributed to contracting consumer demand and decreased availability of credit.

The average selling price per unit was €121 during Q4, with the company’s market share for the quarter estimated at eight per cent, down slightly from 8.1 per cent the previous quarter.