Sony Ericsson reported a fall in fourth-quarter results, blaming tough competition, the difficult economy and component shortages due to the flooding in Thailand. The company shipped just 9 million phones in the quarter, down 20 percent from a year earlier and 5 percent less than in Q3. The drop was due to fewer feature phones sold, while smartphone sales under the Xperia brand were up 65 percent from a year earlier. This helped the average selling price rise 5 percent year-on-year to EUR 143. Total revenues were down 16 percent from a year ago to EUR 1.3 billion. After restructuring charges of EUR 93 million, the company reported a net loss of EUR 207 million, versus a net profit of EUR 8 million a year earlier. Sony Ericsson said it started a restructuring programme including job cuts in December in order to lower costs. The plan should be completed by the end of 2012. Operating cash flow was a negative EUR 26 million in Q4, and the company had EUR 442 million in cash remaining at the end of the period. Sony Ericsson estimates it took 10 percent of the Android smartphone market last year, both in value and volume terms. It expects further strong growth in the smartphone market this year. The earlier announced sale of Ericsson's stake in the company to Sony is expected to close in late January or February.
