Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson, has just reported its fourth quarter 2010 financial results. On the recovery were profits, reportedly $10.7 million — a significant improvement to the $225 million net loss reported in the year-ago period. On the decline were handset shipments, falling to 11.2 units — down 23 percent from the 14.6 million units posted in the fourth quarter of 2009.
It’s no secret, Sony Ericsson needs to start updating their Android handsets. It took nearly eight months for the company’s flagship X10 to be updated from Android 1.6 to Android 2.1, and there’s still no telling when they’ll land a 2.2 or 2.3 update. Slow updates were the likely cause of the fourth quarter drop in handset shipments. CEO Bert Nordberg said on the company’s earnings conference call that they will try to use new products to “boost profitability and market share”.
Here are some of the highlights of the fourth quarter 2010 financials: net profit was $10.7 million, up from the $225 million net loss reported in the year-ago period; sales fell to $2.05 billion, down from $2.35 billion in the year-ago period; global market share is three percent in units and five percent in value.
In terms of handsets, Sony Ericsson’s overall handset shipments fell to 11.2 million units, down 23 percent from the 14.6 million posted in the fourth quarter of 2009. To combat the growing decline Sony Ericsson plans to streamline the portfolio and focus on higher-end smart phones. The average selling price of handsets dropped to $183 from $207 in the third quarter, which the company blames on price erosion, foreign exchange rates and product mix.
There’s certainly plenty of room for improvement at Sony Ericsson and hopefully devices such as the Sony Playstation phone and the Xperia Arc will help the once dominant manufacturer return to the forefront of mobile technology. Do you think that Sony Ericsson still has a chance in the high-end smart phone game, or has the company missed the mark with their last line up of smart phones and now in a case of too little too late? Sound off.
via FierceWireless
