mocoNews - Earnings: Sony Ericsson Reports Fourth Straight Quarterly Loss

Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) reported a fourth straight quarterly loss in the second quarter, after shipping 13.8 million phones, or 43 percent less than a year earlier. The joint venture's net loss was 213 million euros ($300 million), which was smaller than analysts anticipated, Bloomberg reported. Net income a year ago totaled 6 million euros. Sales fell 40 percent to 1.68 billion euros, missing analysts? estimates. Release.

As the fifth largest handset maker, Sony Ericsson estimated its market share was more than 5 percent in the second quarter, down from 6 percent last quarter. But it's not sales that are driving the company to a turnaround-it's cutbacks.

In the past year, Sony Ericsson has conducted 2,350 of 4,000 announced layoffs that it anticipates and has been cutting back on other expenses, too. While demand for Sony Ericsson phones has fallen as it has failed to keep up with smartphone trends, Sony Ericsson is also forecasting a drop in global handset sales. It expects the market to shrink at least 10 percent this year from the 1.19 billion sold in 2008. CEO Dick Komiyama said in the statement: "We still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson. Our performance is starting to improve due to our cost-reduction activities."

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