Driven by high demand for music and camera phones Sony Ericsson this morning reported that sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 reached €2.3bn, up 15pc on the year. During the quarter the company shipped some 16.1m mobile devices, up 28pc on last year.
Based on the sales growth, Sony Ericsson reported a pre-tax profit of €206m compared with €66m last year.
Sony Ericsson said that the second half of 2005 was particularly strong due to the success of hit model phones in both the imaging and music product segments. n particular, the highlight of the year was the global success of the Walkman-branded music phones such as the W800, W600, W550 and W900, firmly establishing the company in the burgeoning mobile music market.
The company said that since the Walkman phone was launched in volume last August, it has shipped some 3m Walkman branded units.
“This was another solid quarter for Sony Ericsson, and has enabled us to finish the year with great momentum,” commented Miles Flint, president of Sony Ericsson. “We are now seeing the benefit of our earlier investments in R&D which have enabled us to expand the product line-up and successfully appeal to new consumers with products like the Walkman phone series.
“In the fourth quarter we continued to announce exciting new products at a variety of price points; from high-end 3G products like the new W900 3G Walkman phone to attractive mid-tier clamshell phones like the Z520 model to lower-priced essential phone models such as the J230, J210 and Z300 that will appeal to consumers who want a simple and stylish handset,” Flint said.
By John Kennedy