Sony Ericsson Warns of Massive Quarterly Loss

From DailyTech: The mobile phone market is seeing some of the poorest sales in recent history with demand for products dropping in many segments of the mobile phone industry. The only segment of the mobile phone industry that is predicted to show strong growth this year is the high-end smartphone market.

The fourth largest mobile phone maker in the world -- Sony Ericsson -- has announced that it will see a massive loss for the quarter with barely half of the handsets sold this quarter as it was able to move in the quarter before.

The announcement by Sony Ericsson sent shares across the wireless sector into a downward spiral reports Reuters. Sony Ericsson expects to sell only 14 million phones in the quarter spanning January to March and cites weak demand and retailers cutting inventories as reasons for the massive decline.

Jari Honko from eQ Bank told Reuters, "Investors are questioning the whole market now, even though I think the issue for Sony Ericsson is more company specific."

Sony Ericcson wasn't alone in announcing declines in sales and shipments -- Palm announced that it was going to see a larger loss than originally reported over the December to February quarter. Revenues for the quarter declined 70% from one year ago according to Palm. Analyst Carolina Milanesi from Gartner said, "The market, overall, continues to be very challenging." Sony Ericsson announced in January that it would cut 5,000 jobs.

View: Article @ Source Site