This is getting to be a bit of a habit. Sony Ericsson has posted a quarterly profit, its fourth in a row. As the profit in question is for its fiscal Q2, it's a bit early yet for the mobile phone maker to uncork the champagne for a full financial year in the black. But indications are promising.

The Japanese-Swedish mobile handset maker produced net income of €89m for the three months to the end of June (Q2 03 -€88m) on revenues up almost a third to €1.5bn (£1.13bn). Pre-tax profits were €113m (€102m).

Average selling prices for the quarter were €145, down from €152 in Q1 and €167 in Q2. This is because the product mix has changed, rather than collapsing prices - S-E reports that it is selling more GSM phones these days. It is is flogging a hell of a lot more handsets, with shipments up 55 per cent year on year to 10.4m units. It also says the results reflect "continued strong demand for our style-oriented line-up of imaging and multimedia phones". In other words, it's flogging its fair share of expensive handsets too.

The company forecasts that the mobile phone industry will ship 600m units sales this year, revising its earlier estimate of 550m units. ®

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