BackSony’s earnings on camera and music phones rises
Sony's earnings on camera and music phones rises
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Bloomberg
Stockholm: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, the world’s fourth-largest maker of mobile handsets, said profit more than doubled in the first quarter on sales of phones with digital cameras and music players that have higher margins.
Net income jumped to $346 mn (Rs 1,559 crore) and sales rose 47% as it sold 21.8 million phones in the quarter.
Sony Ericsson’s product line is dominated by more expensive phones such as the K800i that comes with a high-resolution camera and was the gadget of choice in the latest James Bond movie. That’s allowed the venture between Ericsson AB and Sony Corp. to command average selling prices on its handsets that are about a third higher than those of market leader Nokia Oyj.
The joint venture’s aim is to wrest the number three position in the industry from Samsung Electronics Co. To help reach that target, Sony Ericson last month teamed up with Sagem Communication of France to expand its range of cheaper phones.
The push into cheaper phones won’t hurt profitability, CEO Miles Flint said 27 March . Instead, Sony Ericsson will seek to make features including the Walkman music- player phones more accessible to a wider range of consumers.
Nokia, Sony Ericsson’s Finnish competitor, said first-quarter profit fell 6.6% on increased sales of lower-priced handsets in China and India. Motorola, industry’s No. 2 also reported a first-quarter net loss of after selling prices for its mobile phones fell.
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