Sony Ericsson Posts Heavy Q1 Loss, to Cut 2,000 Jobs

Sony Ericsson, the No. 4 global handset maker after Nokia, Samsung and LG, today said it would slash 2,000 more jobs after it posted a $387 million loss in the first quarter.


Jointly owned by Sweden's Ericsson and Japan's Sony, the company said sales in the January-March quarter tumbled by 36 percent to $2.2 billion, from $3.5 billion a year earlier.

It blamed the sales drop to weaker demand for mobile phones, with retailers and distributors trimming inventories amid the recessions in major economies.

The company shipped 14.5 million handsets in the quarter, down 35 percent from a year ago.

"In summary it has been a difficult quarter and we expect this to continue through 2009," said Sony Ericsson President Dick Komiyama. "We are aligning our business to the new market reality with the aim of bringing the company back to profitability as quickly as possible."

Last July, Sony Ericsson announced it would cut 2,000 jobs.

Nokia yesterday reported a 90 percent plunge in the first quarter, but reassured investors that it saw signs that demand was stabilizing.