Sony Ericsson issues second profit warning of the year, hopes to break even in Q2

Although Sony Ericsson just churned out a rather impressive array of new handsets this month, it seems the outfit is still having trouble securing record-setting profits. Truthfully, it's struggling to break even, as evidenced by the second profit warning of 2008 that was issued last week. SE is pinpointing "disappointing European sales of its mid- and high-end mobile phones" as the reason it will likely not see a profit in Q2, and some analysts are suggesting that shipment delays and a dearth of low-end handsets also carry a share of the blame. 'Course, the hotly-anticipated Xperia X1 could certainly make for a lovely Q3, but only time will tell if enough folks shell out for it to make a difference.

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 11:53AM]

maybe they should start making better and more reliable handsets and make their product line smaller and more simplified. Oh and WinMo is not the way to go....

[DefPo3t @ Jun 30th 2008 12:17PM]

what do you suggest for a smartphone
symbian < wm
palm on a SE phone nope
blackberry os on a SE phone nope
mobile os x on a SE phone nope
until android comes out they don't have much choice

[tekdroid @ Jun 30th 2008 12:31PM]

I would say their legendary joystick problems have at least something to do with customer perception of their brand (and therefore something to do with their current mess). It's a good thing all new models selling now don't have them.

Overall, I generally like their UIs on their dumbphones.

As for their P1i smartphone... the word seems to be they can do far better than that. With far better stability fixes. We'll see.

[Rich @ Jun 30th 2008 1:21PM]

"symbian < wm"

I wouldn't agree. It's more like...

Symbian UIQ < wm < Symbian S60.

Both in terms of sales and quality.

And Sony Ericsson has already announced that it's going to start making S60 handsets. That's a step in the right direction.

[Jamar @ Jul 1st 2008 10:01AM]

Left hand should look at that the right hand is doing- the Japan group is pushing out stuff that the European group can't seem to match (hello? Can't countries other than Japan have a BRAVIA phone yet?)

[Gaston @ Jun 30th 2008 12:04PM]

That's a nice picture of La Boca, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[derspiess42 @ Jun 30th 2008 1:36PM]

Yup. The thing that surprises me, though, is that Sony actually feels a need to advertise in Argentina. All Argentines I know practically worship the Sony brand, to the point where they think anything else is crap.

Took me 3 or 4 years to break my wife of the habit!

[Julian @ Jun 30th 2008 12:20PM]

WooHoo, La Boca is close from where I was born (Parque Patricio). Aguante Boca!

[Julian @ Jun 30th 2008 12:30PM]

Patricios*

[put4558350 @ Jun 30th 2008 12:27PM]

I don't think xperia will win $199 "iPhone 3G" effect (yes it have 2 year contact but it's $199)

[jb @ Jun 30th 2008 12:39PM]

Ole Ole Ole Ole Boca Juniors!

[Vidit Bhargava @ Jun 30th 2008 1:13PM]

yeah...they are outta good handsets for now...waiting for X1

[Geremias @ Jun 30th 2008 1:28PM]

Esaaaa! Para cuando Engadget Argentina viejaaa?

[Hellios @ Jun 30th 2008 1:32PM]

Here's a hint SonyEricsson: Stop sucking.
I have been using my SE for over 3 years now, and was looking to replace it and there nothing worth having from the SE lineup right now. As a SE fanboy I'll wait for 6 more months (but I really do need an upgrade, the camera is VGA only, there's only 12mb of non-expandable storage, and GPRS is painfully slow) and hope SE makes something with usable keys, decent screen and a midrange price.

But there are tons of people in the same position as me that will just go out and get a Nokia instead. And to be perfectly honest, if my carrier presents and good payment options for the N96, then I'll sadly get a Nokia too.

What happened to Ericsson anyway, they were the top manufacturer in their pre-Sony days.

[Orinjz @ Jun 30th 2008 1:34PM]

It's not surprising that their handset sales have been so slow considering how average and samey their last crop of handsets were. The Cybershot branded phones coming out now look a bit more intriguing because they're trying to do something different.

It's a pity that they let themselves down by not including a 3.5mm jack on their phones (esp the walkman line...that's just unforgivable on a dedicated music phone) and by clinging to the use of the fastport as a way to transfer files.

[Macdelaney @ Jun 30th 2008 1:40PM]

hey endgadget, when can we have our local version???
esa propaganda esta fotoshopeada ahi o es posta?
saludoooos

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 2:18PM]

Dont cry for SE Aregentinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... el w810i era una mierda verdadera. Lo compre y me fallo bastante y ni pudo cojer un 4GB memory stick.

[Andrew @ Jun 30th 2008 3:01PM]

¡vamos river!

[derspiess42 @ Jun 30th 2008 5:04PM]

Seconded.

[Marc @ Jun 30th 2008 3:07PM]

They would already have a lot of money from me if they had 1) standard headset jack, 2) standard USB jack for charging/transferring files. Not having those is a deal breaker for me, there is no good excuse for not having those.

[Harry_Bonds @ Jun 30th 2008 4:40PM]

they really do Suck. HAHAAH
im kidding, you would have to be CLACK to say that