Sony Ericsson records decline in profitability and shipments year-on-year in Q3

Sony Ericsson has reported that its third quarter sales fell marginally to €1.59 billion (US$2.19 billion) compared to €1.6 billion a year ago.

However, the company posted a zero profit figure, compared to a net profit of €49 million a year ago. This is an improvement on the loss of €50 million that the handset manufacturer reported in Q211.

The company shipped 9.5 million phones during the quarter, a nine per cent decrease year-on-year due to a decline in feature phone shipments, partially offset by an increase in smartphone shipments. The 25 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase was due to the higher volume of smartphones shipped.

The average selling price increased to €166 from €154. The year-on-year increase was due to the shift to smartphones and geographic mix despite a negative effect from foreign exchange rates. The sequential increase was due to product and geographic mix.

Sony Ericsson estimates that its share of the global Android-based smartphone market during the quarter was approximately 12 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value.

The company maintained its forecast for modest industry growth in total units in the global handset market for 2011.