Sony Ericsson’s Q3 Results Show Signs of Recovery

Following Nokia’s announcement of third-quarter loss, Sony Ericsson has recently released its financial results for the same quarter of 2009. Despite a widening net loss and lower sales year over year, the overall results have improved compared with the second quarter of 2009, showing a positive trend towards financial stabilization.

During the July-September period, the Swedish-Japanese company lost €198 million, which has worsened from the €12 million gain a year earlier, but got better compared with a loss of €283 million in the previous quarter. Sales also showed an improvement as 14.1 million cell phones were sold during the period, giving a 2 percent growth over the Q2’s 13.8 million units but a 42 percent drop compared with 2008.

As one of the few handset manufacturers that show signs of recovery amid global economic recession, Sony Ericsson explained the improving financial health as a result of its severe cost-cutting strategy, better-than-expected sales of the W995 walkman phone and the external financing received from its parents companies, Sony and Ericsson.

"Transforming the business for future growth and returning Sony Ericsson to profitability is the focus of the senior management team and will continue under the new leadership," said the company’s outgoing president Dick Komiyama.

Still, Sony Ericsson’s performance is far from being great considering its last year’s results. The company has been struggling to retain customers, partly due to its heavy focus on the Cybershot and Walkman series, such as the C905a and the W518a, while high-end smartphones such as iPhone and BlackBerry are becoming increasing popular. Its delay of engaging in the smartphone market hinders the growth of its business and restrains its global market share to around 5%.

For the last quarter of the year, Sony Ericsson puts high hopes for three new high-end devices integrating features such as Sony’s PlayStation game consoles to win back consumers. They are the Satio camera phone, the multimedia-focused Aino and the gaming-centric Yari. Still, whether these additions will improve the company’s situation remains to be seen.

Tags: Sony Ericsson Accessories, Sony Ericsson C905a Accessories, Sony Ericsson W518a Accessories, iPhone Accessories, BlackBerry Accessories, Sony PSP