Japan Earthquake Pushes Sony Ericsson To A Q2 Loss; Smartphones Account For 70 Percent Of Sales

Robin Wauters

Robin Wauters is the European Editor of tech blog The Next Web and lead editor of Virtualization.com. He was a senior staff writer at TechCrunch until his departure in February 2012. Aside from his professional blogging activities, he’s an entrepreneur, event organizer, occasional board adviser and angel investor but most importantly an all-round startup champion. Wauters lives and works in... → Learn More

Friday, July 15th, 2011
xperia

Sony Ericsson released its quarterly earnings this morning, reporting a surprise loss for Q2 2011 and declining sales. The earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year has a lot to do with the slump, as it had a major effect on the company’s supply chain.

The quarter ended in a net loss of €50 million (roughly $70.5 million), compared to a net income of €12 million ($17 million) in the same quarter in the previous year, and €11 million ($15.5 million) in the last quarter.

Sony Ericsson estimates that the impact of earthquake-related constraints on its product portfolio was close to 1.5 million units, with most of the effect in the early part of the second quarter of the year.

Total units shipped during the quarter were 7.6 million, a 31 percent decrease year- on-year. The average price per handset also fell, from €160 to €156.

Sales for the quarter were nearly €1,2 billion (roughly $1.7 billion), a 32 percent decrease year-on-year. Loss before taxes for the quarter was €42 million ($59 million), compared to an income before taxes of €31 million ($43.7 million) for the same quarter in the previous year, due to lower volume.

On another note: smartphone sales accounted for more than 70 percent of Sony Ericsson’s total sales during the quarter. The company says it has shipped more than 16 million Android-powered Xperia smartphones to date.

The company estimates that its share in the global Android-based smartphone market during the quarter was approximately 11 percent in volume as well as in value.

Website: sonymobile.com
Launch Date: October 3, 2001

Sony Mobile (Formerly Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications) is a global provider of mobile multimedia devices, including feature-rich phones, accessories and PC cards. The products combine powerful technology with innovative applications for mobile imaging, music, communications and entertainment. The net result is that Sony Ericsson is an enticing brand that creates compelling business opportunities for mobile operators and desirable, fun products for end users. Sony Mobile was established in 2001 by telecommunications leader Ericsson and consumer electronics powerhouse Sony Corporation. The...

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