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2009-04-17 06:21:09
by Delphine Touitou Delphine Touitou . 21 mins ago
STOCKHOLM (AFP) . Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday said it would cut 2,000 more jobs after it swung to a loss of 293 million euros (384 million dollars) in the first quarter of the year.
The group, which reported losses in the third and fourth quarters of last year, had warned in March that its first-quarter figures would be weak because of recessions in major economies that have hit demand for its handsets.
With sales in the fourth quarter down by a third, it vowed to deepen job cuts announced last year in a bid to reduce costs and return to profitability.
"The additional cost saving programme announced today will include a further reduction in the global workforce of approximately 2,000 people," the company said in a statement.
Sony Ericsson had announced a cost-cutting programme in July 2008 that included 2,000 job cuts by the end of the first half of 2009 which was expected to bring its work force to around 10,000.
The global economic slowdown has cut demand for consumer electronics and established handset makers such as Sony Ericsson and market leader Nokia must also contend with the runaway success of Apple's iPhone, which dominates the high-end segment of the market.
Nokia reported a 90-percent drop in its first-quarter net profit and a more than 25-percent decline in sales on Thursday.
Sony Ericsson, created in 2001 in a merger between Ericsson of Sweden and Sony of Japan, has been trying to focus its business on fast-growing emerging markets in order to reduce dependence on the nearly saturated European zone.
As a result it has entered the low-end market where prices are lower and the competition is tougher, analysts say, but it has lacked the products to make a splash in emerging markets such as China and India.
"As expected, the first quarter of this year has been extremely challenging for Sony Ericsson due to continued weak global demand," company president Dick Komiyama said in a statement.
"We are aligning our business to the new market reality with the aim of bringing the company back to profitability as quickly as possible," he said.
In the first quarter, Sony Ericsson's sales plunged by 35.7 percent to 1.73 billion euros from 2.7 billion a year earlier.
It sold 14.5 million mobile phones during the period, at an average price of 120 euros, compared to 22.3 million for an average 121 euros a year ago.
By comparison, Nokia, which dominates the low-end sector, said its average selling price was 65 euros in the first quarter.
Sony Ericsson's operating margin plummeted from 7.0 percent in the first quarter a year ago to minus 21 percent.
The weak results were expected.
Sony Ericsson had issued a profit warning on March 20, saying it expected to report a pre-tax loss somewhere between 340 and 390 million euros. The loss amounted to 370 million euros, it said on Wednesday.
The company said its new cost-saving programme is expected to yield annual savings of 400 million euros and be completed by mid-2010.
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Posted: 2009291@505.72
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F rlust f r Sony Ericsson
Mobiltelefontillverkaren Sony Ericsson redovisar en f rlust f re skatt p 370 miljoner euro f r rets f rsta kvartal. Ytterligare 2.000 m ste l mna bolaget.
Oms ttningen under kvartalet uppgick till 1,74 miljarder euro, ned fr n 2,70 miljarder euro samma kvartal i fjol.
Under kvartalet levererade Sony Ericsson 14,5 miljoner mobiltelefoner, j mf rt med 22,3 miljoner enheter.
Analytiker hade i snitt r knat med en f rlust f re skatt p 371 miljoner euro p en oms ttning p 1.681 miljoner euro f r rets f rsta kvartal enligt en Reutersenk t.
Det genomsnittliga f rs ljningspriset per telefon uppgick till 120 euro under f rsta kvartalet i fjol, j mf rt med 121 euro under motsvarande kvartal 2008.
Sony Ericsson bed mer att bolaget hade en marknadsandel p 6 procent under f rsta kvartalet i r, ned tv procentenheter fr n fj rde kvartalet i fjol.
Bolaget sp r att den globala f rs ljningen av mobiltelefoner kommer att minska med minst 10 procent i r.
Det f rsta kvartalet har varit mycket tufft f r bolaget. I rappoten st r det d rf r att ytterligare besparingsprogram kommer att p b rjas.
Bolaget uppskattar att kostnaden f r det nya sparprogrammet blir omkring 200 miljoner euro.
R relsemarginalen rasar fr n 7 procent till - 21 procent fr n f rsta kvartalet i fjol till samma kvartal i r.
Fredagens aviserade sparprogram, som ska vara slutf rt i mitten av 2010, ska ge en besparing p 400 miljoner euro, skriver Sony Ericsson i sin del rsrapport.
"Vi anpassar v r verksamhet till en ny verklighet med m let att g ra f retaget l nsamt igen s snart som m jligt", skriver Dick Komiyama, Sony Ericssons vd, i en kommentar.
- Bolagets problem r att marknaden r mycket tuff och att leverant rerna har flera enheter i sina lager. Men bolagets problem r ocks deras portf lj. Det r trycksk rmar som g ller och l tt att navigera sig fram p internet. H r ligger de efter, s ger Carolina Milanesi, analytiker p Gartner.
Carolina Milanesi var f rv nad att Sony Ericsson planerar att g ra sig av med s m nga anst llda.
- Det g ller att vara f rsiktig s att de inte drar ned f r mycket, s ger hon.
Sony Ericsson har efter det f rra besparingsprogrammet p 2 000 personer en arbetsstyrka p 10.000 kvar. I Sverige jobbar 4.500, inklusive konsulter. Merparten av dessa, 4.000, finns i Lund.