Sony Ericsson dials up revenue and profits jump

Walkman phones prove leader of the pack

By Emmet Ryan, ElectricNews.net • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 13th July 2007 08:54 GMT

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Sony Ericsson saw its profits jump 55 per cent year-on-year in its results for the second quarter of 2007.

The results, announced on Thursday, saw the group record pretax profts of €327m for the quarter, compared to €211m for the same period in 2006.

The growth in profits reflected strong sales, which were up to €3.1bn for the quarter, compared to €2.3bn a year ago.

Net profits also increased significantly, from €143m in the second quarter of 2006 to €220m this year.

The handset group saw the number of units sold worldwide rise substantially up from 15.7 million for the second quarter of 2006 to 24.9 million in 2007. This included sales of nine million Walkman phones, a handset range that's proving to be a winner for Sony Ericsson. The average price of units shipped was €125, down from €145 a year ago.

"Sony Ericsson has continued to capture market share in a more competitive market place with a product offering that addresses a wider consumer audience than ever before. Our financial results for Q2 2007 reflect our direction to build our brand in key imaging, music, and multimedia categories with a portfolio that includes more competitively priced phones," Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint said.

"We expect the market in 2007 to remain competitive, but with recently announced products such as the flagship Walkman and Cyber-shot models we aim to continue to grow faster than the market."

Sony Ericsson forecasts that the 2007 global handset market will be more than 1.1 billion units. The company said it grew its market share in the quarter by around three per cent compared with the same period last year.

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