Sony Ericsson needs to raise 100 million euros to stay afloat, says CFO
By Laura June 
posted May 20th 2009 4:31PM
posted May 20th 2009 4:31PM
Things haven't looked great for Sony Ericsson -- which reported its sales were down 50% during the first quarter -- for quite a piece of time now. Well, now Sony's CFO has admitted that falling demand combined with a "gap" in its product portfolio has created problems for the company. He also acknowledged that the company needs to raise about 100 million euros by the end of this fiscal year (March of 2010) to keep on trucking. Sony Ericsson is reportedly considering numberless cash-raising options, but no plans are yet set in stone. We wish them luck!
I love my SE W380a DumbPhone. I'm listening to Johnny Cash from it as I write this. In case you're wondering, his cover of Hurt. Best music/hacked video player phone ever.
I
lol @ you guys who think SE will dissapear or something. its the daughter company of Sony and Ericsson (ericsson which is the worlds biggest network supplier). They have had ONE bad year now, until recently they were very succesful.
They will learn from their misstakes and come back. just chill
I like how they're asking for a bailout. "We're not good enough at making phones to compete in today's market, so please give us $100 million to compensate, thx."
Hey SE, here's an idea - how about not sucking? Just a thought.
I really missed the xperia let down, I thought it would rock, guess I was wrong,
I still have my p910a and is still in great shape, considering I've dropped/kicked/washed/not-charged-4-2month-at-a-time
of course I lost interest in it, being it so damn expensive/Pre coming out
but still sorry for them
good luck!
No PSPhone? Sorry, not getting a cent SEricsson, fuck you!
+1
Hmmm, it's just 100M Euros - peanuts for any moderately sized investor. Not sure what the big fuss is about. As the child of Sony + Ericsson, I can't imagine they will be in trouble for long. Yes, no one's doing particularly well these days, but seriously - companies like this don't die over 100M Euros.
As an antidote to their 1B loss, I out together a selection of Sony groundbreaking products from the past - plenty of 'firsts' there. They'll be back.
http://thinkmoreinc.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/81/
They need more backing from Sony. PSP phone is what is required. Sont and SE will find it increasingly hard with the fan fair surrounding Apple and Palm. Also if MS delivers on a service integrating zune and xbox services onto a phone then SE is surely doomed and Sony will begin to struggle more with Playstation.
i worked for at&t for 5 years and know a little about the industry... american carriers is what did it in for sony ericsson. they make awesome devices but they are higher priced and at&t demads to much. they want to much control. they won't let the handset manufactures do what they do best. they cripple the fuck out of the devices they launch. why is i that a $300.00 'dumb' phone that has the capability of email is stuck with their version of mobile email that doesn't even support gmail? they had a few really good handsets that people were willing to pay for get turned down by at&t/cingular. the price was high but that's because it was quality. look at the handsets they released on a&t and look at the failure rate and then look at the euro version and you see the difference. at&t is big and that is what is going to bring them down. they dumb the shit out of phones so that only the iphone and blackberries are attractive. again i ask why is it that on their high end phones can you NOT check email???? because ralph de la vega and his cronies think the public is stupid and doesn't know any better but the other carriers are catching on and at&t is back to number 2 and j.d. powers ranks them next to last................. if it wasn't for the iphone they wouldn't even be where they are now. how many people would choose at&t if it wasn't for the iphone? and they have the coverage but they don't have the know how to support it? oh. and best coverage on the globe??? it still doesn't work where i live.
I heard the EU recently got 1.4billion dollars...
maybe they shouldn't have been selling phones for $900.00 some dollars (The Xperia) and actually had some decent phones for sale with contract instead of having all of them cost a bagillion dollars off contract. Worlds smallest violin....you know the rest.
They need to bring back the T610. I loved that phone.
Sony Ericsson does make "decent' phones but it's too generic and overpriced!
SE is too arrogant and greedy to think about their customers.
It has problems in many areas:
1. Design
- Too many models
- All their phones are beginning to look the same
- Upgraded models just add "tweaks" and switch from one form factor (bar) to another (slider)
- Consolidate them!
2. Technology
- W series - why refuse to put 3.5mm port when it's needed for headphones instead of using Darn Fastport?
- C/K series - decent cameras but some don't included Zenon flash?
- Why even bother including Cameras in some phones without AF/Flash? What's the point?
- Some phones aren't similarly equipped with certain features like 3G or Wifi. Why not?
3. Customer service
- Who has NOT had problems with customer service on their phones??
- Email service Stinks!
4. Pricing
- TOO HIGH for most people!
- SE CHOSE to make "high-end" phones as stated in their past press releases!!
- SE does NOT "need" to charge premiums for their phones but it does which is ONE MAJOR reason the general public is turned OFF by their phones!!
- How greedy SE truly is!
5. Media software
- MediaGo S*cks!
- SE does NOT know how to create media software for their phones
- Drag n drop method is best but does NOT include Album Art in phones!
SE refuses to listen to consumers and make products SE thinks people SHOULD buy instead of vice versa! How arrogant!
Unless SE can develop better phones that truly differentiate themselves and are priced "reasonably" for the general public (NOT fanboys who'll buy almost anything), SE will NOT survive!
Look at Nokia and Samsung who are the current market leaders of cell phones makers!
SE is officially ranked 5th in sales with a market share of 5% or less globally! Ouch!