Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said today it fell further into the red in the fourth quarter with a net loss of $245 million, with sales slumping 22 percent due to the financial crisis.
The company reported the net loss for the October to December period compared with a year-earlier profit of $496 million.
Despite the losses, the company said that the average selling price for its devices were up from the third quarter, at $160 each, boosted by favorable currency rates and higher sales of its high-end models.
It also maintained its estimated market share of 8 percent in the quarter.
"The mobile telephone market has been very badly affected by the global economic crisis and, as expected, the fourth quarter was very difficult," said Dick Komiyama, President of Sony Ericsson. "We expect a further deterioration of the market in 2009, especially in the first quarter."
The company said it expects the global handset market to contract and the average selling prices of handsets to decrease.
