Sony Ericsson sells over 100 mln handsets in 2007

Sony Ericsson announced that over 100 million units were sold in 2007 sold – more than double the global market growth rate. The company said that margins remain strong as the company shifts to a broader portfolio.

Unit growth was underpinned by increased sales of lower priced phones  with 145 mln music-enabled phones sold to date, of which 57 mln were Walkman phones – maintaining a leadership in music.

Units shipped in the quarter reached 30.8 mln, a 18% increase compared to the same period last year, generating continued sequential and year-on-year market share gains.

Sales for the quarter were EUR 3,771 mln, in line with sales a year ago reflecting a strategic shift to a greater proportion of lower priced handsets in the product portfolio.

Income before taxes for the quarter was EUR 501 mln in line with a year ago. Net income for the quarter was EUR 373 mln.

Sony Ericsson gained market share during the quarter due to the continued success of such products as the K550 Cyber-shot and the W200, W300 and W580 Walkman phones in the Americas and Europe. Although average selling price (ASP) increased slightly sequentially during the quarter, as a result of the introduction of new flag-ship Walkman and Cyber-shot phones such as the W910 and K850 models, the trend for falling ASPs year-on-year reflects the company’s direction to broaden its product portfolio.

“Our target remains to become one of the top three players in the industry, and the momentum we established in 2006 and 2007 makes this a realistic and achievable ambition,” said Dick Komiyama, President of Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson estimates the 2007 global handset market as being over 1.1 bln units, in line with previous forecasts. On this basis the company believes it grew market share around 2 percentage points to reach slightly over 9% for the full year 2007 compared to full year 2006.

Sony Ericsson announced a number of new products during the fourth quarter including high-end W890 Walkman and the K630 and the K660 HSDPA web phones.  The company also announced its strategy to expand Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow digital content distribution application into a full service proposition during 2008.

On November 1, 2007 Sony Ericsson’s president Miles Flint stepped down and Hideki ‘Dick’ Komiyama joined the company to replace him. Dick Komiyama joined Sony Ericsson from Sony Corporation where he was Director, Chairman, Sony Electronics Inc., USA, and Executive Vice President of Electronics Marketing and Sales Strategies of Sony Corporation, Japan.