Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., the mobile phone venture of Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, reported its first quarterly loss in five years on costs to cut jobs and a loss of market share to rivals, including Apple Inc.
A net loss of 25 million euro, or $33.8 million, was logged, compared with a profit of 267 million euro a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement Friday. Sales fell 9.7 percent to 2.81 billion euro, as Sony Ericsson's unit sales fell to 25.7 million euro from 25.9 million euro a year earlier.
Sony Ericsson, formerly among its parents' biggest profit contributors, has slipped in global mobile phone rankings after failing to sustain demand for its Walkman and Cybershot camera phones. The company is cutting 2,000 jobs globally, and is betting the new touch-screen Xperia handset will take market share from competitors.