Stockholm – Sony Ericsson reported a profit in its fiscal
fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, marking four consecutive profitable quarters.
The company posted a quarterly profit of 8 million euros
compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter loss of 167 million euros. Sales
were 1.528 billion euros for the quarter down from the previous year’s
quarterly sales of 1.75 billion euros.
Unit sales were 11.2 million, down from 14.6 million units
in the previous year’s final quarter. However, the average selling price was up
34 euros versus the final quarter of last year to 154 euros.
Bert Nordberg, president/CEO of Sony Ericsson called 2010 “a
turnaround year for Sony Ericsson. Our four consecutive quarters of profit
reflect the success of our shift towards an Android-based smartphone
portfolio.”
During 2010 Sony Ericsson improved its cost of sales ratio,
reducing its global workforce by approximately 4,000 people in total,
consolidating its facilities worldwide and decreasing annual operating expenses
by more than Euro 880 million. Total restructuring charges 381 million euros.
For the year net income was 90 million euros compared with a
loss last year of 836 million euros. Net sales were 6.29 billion euros, down
from the prior year’s 6.78 billion euros, but the average selling price was up
27 euros to 146. Unit sales were 43.1 million euros, down from the prior year’s
annual unit sales of 57.1 million.
Nordberg said, “We will celebrate the 10th anniversary of
the creation of Sony Ericsson in 2011, and as shown by the recently announced
Xperia arc, we will continue to focus on delivering the most entertaining
smartphones worldwide.”
Sony Ericsson forecasts modest growth in units in the global
handset market for 2011.
