Sony Ericsson says demand is holding up; confirms forecast amid global crisis
SONY Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., the mobile phone venture of Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, said it will continue to target the high end of the market, where demand is holding up amid the current financial crisis.
“The demand for smart and sophisticated high-end mobile phones isn’t really weakening,” Steve Walker, a marketing executive and head of portfolio planning at Sony Ericsson, said in an interview in Barcelona. “Consumers buy either cheaper or more expensive handsets.”
Walker reiterated that the company expects to return to a profit in the second half.
The Swedish-Japanese venture reported a fourth-quarter net loss of €187 million ($239 million) on costs to cut jobs and as sales declined. Chief executive officer Dick Komiyama said on January 16 he would need to deepen annual cost cuts and the company won’t return to profit before the second half of this year. Sony Ericsson has said it plans to focus on more expensive models such as the Xperia that have higher margins.
Walker’s comments echo Vodafone’s chief executive officer Vittorio Colao, who said on February 3 that midrange mobile phones are becoming less popular as consumers increasingly buy either cheaper or more expensive handsets.
Fourth-quarter worldwide shipments of handsets dropped 10 percent to 295 million from a year earlier, Boston-based researcher Strategy Analytics said on January 23. In the three months ended December 31, LG Electronics Inc. overtook Sony Ericsson and Motorola Inc. to become the third-biggest vendor. Motorola slipped to fifth from third, Strategy Analytics said. Finland’s Nokia Oyj is the world’s largest maker of mobile phones.
Walker also said the current company structure with two parent companies is “not a problem,” as Sony Ericsson is “allowed to act as an independent entity” and “benefits from the input” from “two rather different owners.”
In Barcelona Sony Ericsson unveiled its new W995 Walkman phone and a mobile phone handset under the concept name Idou. The Idou has a 12.1-megapixel camera and can show movies and video clips in a 16:9 widescreen format.
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“The demand for smart and sophisticated high-end mobile phones isn’t really weakening,” Steve Walker, a marketing executive and head of portfolio planning at Sony Ericsson, said in an interview in Barcelona. “Consumers buy either cheaper or more expensive handsets.”
Walker reiterated that the company expects to return to a profit in the second half.
The Swedish-Japanese venture reported a fourth-quarter net loss of €187 million ($239 million) on costs to cut jobs and as sales declined. Chief executive officer Dick Komiyama said on January 16 he would need to deepen annual cost cuts and the company won’t return to profit before the second half of this year. Sony Ericsson has said it plans to focus on more expensive models such as the Xperia that have higher margins.
Walker’s comments echo Vodafone’s chief executive officer Vittorio Colao, who said on February 3 that midrange mobile phones are becoming less popular as consumers increasingly buy either cheaper or more expensive handsets.
Fourth-quarter worldwide shipments of handsets dropped 10 percent to 295 million from a year earlier, Boston-based researcher Strategy Analytics said on January 23. In the three months ended December 31, LG Electronics Inc. overtook Sony Ericsson and Motorola Inc. to become the third-biggest vendor. Motorola slipped to fifth from third, Strategy Analytics said. Finland’s Nokia Oyj is the world’s largest maker of mobile phones.
Walker also said the current company structure with two parent companies is “not a problem,” as Sony Ericsson is “allowed to act as an independent entity” and “benefits from the input” from “two rather different owners.”
In Barcelona Sony Ericsson unveiled its new W995 Walkman phone and a mobile phone handset under the concept name Idou. The Idou has a 12.1-megapixel camera and can show movies and video clips in a 16:9 widescreen format.
source
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