Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 669 Mon. April 17, 2006  
   
Business


Sony Ericsson looks better, brightens outlook
Abu Saeed Khan

World's fifth largest mobile phone maker, Sony Ericsson, has exceeded the analysts forecast by tripling its net income during first quarter while its 151 million euros (US$183.6 million) pre-tax earning is more than double than of 70 million euros during the same period of last year.

It has supplied 13.3 million mobile phones, compared to 9.4 million units in Q1 of last year. This 41 per cent growth is higher than general market trend but it is down 17 per cent on the fourth quarter.

Sony Ericsson's turnover has climbed to 1.99 billion euros, up from 1.29 billion euros in the first quarter of 2005. This is, again, above the predicted 1.87 billion euros mark.

"Our focus is staying where it is, which means that we are investing in camera mobiles, music mobiles and office mobiles," said the company's managing director Miles Flint in a webcast on Thursday morning.

Its average selling price (ASP) rose four per cent to 149 euros from the fourth quarter of 2005 as a greater chunk of high-end products entering in its portfolio due to the new phones for both KDDI and NTT DoCoMo in Japan.

"We have also spent a lot of time broadening our portfolio. Not least so we are there when consumers in expanding markets are now ready to change their mobiles with black and white screens to colour screens and simpler camera mobiles," Flint said.

Following the footsteps of market leader Nokia, Sony Ericsson has also increased its outlook for 2006. Earlier Sony Ericsson had forecast 10 per cent global growth compared to the sales of 780 million units in 2005. Now it believes that 900 million mobile phones will be sold in 2006.

Sony Ericsson's best-selling phones in the quarter include the W800, W550 and W600 Walkman, which plays digital-music. The company has announced three more Walkman-branded phones including the mass market clamshell W300.

Sony Ericsson also makes high quality camera phones and launched a range of new handsets with advanced imaging capabilities, including the first Cyber-shot branded phones. It is based on Sony's digital-camera range of the same name. It has also begun the shipments of a new range of mass market GSM phones.

Sony Ericsson is a fifty-fifty joint venture of Japanese Sony and Swedish Ericsson. The joint owners decided on a dividend of 247 million euros, which was paid out on March 30.