Stockholm, Sweden — Sony Ericsson almost doubled its second-quarter income vs. the previous year due to demand for Walkman-branded phones, the company reported.
Units shipped in the quarter reached 15.7 million, a 33 percent increase, compared with the same period last year, and generated an increase in market share both on a year-on-year and sequential basis, the company said.
Sales in the second quarter, ended June 30, were $2.89 billion, up dramatically from $1.61 billion in the previous year’s second quarter. Income before taxes were $268.6 million vs. $110.8 million for the same time last year, and net income, at $182.2 million, also rose dramatically from last year’s $95.6 million.
Sony Ericsson continued the momentum of the first quarter by shipping three Walkman-branded phones — the W300, W700 and W42S — as well as announcing two new stylish Walkman models: the W850, a tri-band/UMTS slider phone, and the quadband EDGE W710, the first sports Walkman with pedometer and jogging applications.
The quadband EDGE W810 Walkman phone, a follow-up to the popular W800, became a big success during the quarter and continued to build the company’s position as a leader in mobile music. This was further enhanced by the shipment of the W42S for KDDI, the first Walkman-branded phone for the Japanese market, the company said
Following the successful introduction of the Walkman brand to the mobile phone market last year, the company started shipping the K800, Sony Ericsson’s first Cyber-shot branded 3.2-megapixel camera phone, bringing the Sony camera brand to its high-tier imaging products, the company said.
“The second quarter has seen Sony Ericsson both announce and start to ship a wide variety of products confirming the company’s ability to compete, capture market share and profitably grow the business. With a product lineup that includes a broad range of both basic and feature phones, Sony Ericsson is now in a position to broaden its customer base in all market regions and customer segments,” said Miles Flint, president.
Growth in the global handset market continued to outpace expectations, and Sony Ericsson now forecasts the global market outlook for 2006 to be above 950 million units, up from the previous estimate of “above 900 million units,” the company said.
