Sony Ericsson income down 48 per cent

Slow mobile handset sales and lower prices take a toll on the manufacturer

Multimedia handsets sales remain weak

Sony Ericsson saw sales revenues dip by eight per cent year on year to €2.7bn (£2.2bn) in the first quarter of 2008.

As with other mobile handset manufacturers in recent weeks, including market leader Nokia, Sony Ericsson blamed lower handset prices and slower than anticipated sales of smartphones and multimedia handsets for the decline.

Net income was down 48 per cent as a result, dropping to €133m for the quarter. Sony Ericsson cited higher research and development costs as one source of greater operating expense, coupled with a €470m dividend payment to parent companies.

Units shipped in the quarter remained flat at 22.3 million devices, two per cent up on Q1 2007. The company expects sales from emerging markets to grow the global handset market by average rate of 10 per cent in 2008.