Sony Ericsson posts surprise profit from unsurprising handsets
Can it be, did Sony Ericsson just post its first quarterly profit since Q2 2008? Make.Believe it: the fantastically handsome crew from Stockholm is reporting a Q1 2010 net profit of €21 million, besting analysts who were expecting a €128 million loss. Importantly, SE managed to bump the average handset selling price to €134 on 10.5 million sold compared to the 14.5 million sold at an average of €120 a year prior thanks, in part, to the launch of its uneven X10 and buggy Vivaz. For those keeping track, that drops Sony Ericsson's share of global handset sales down from 5% last quarter to around 4% currently. So yeah, slashing head count and closing facilities has earned Sony Ericsson a short-term win on Wall Street. Remains to be seen, however, if they're now spread too thin to continue juggling Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android with expectations for even more Sony Ericsson supported OSes in the future.
