Sony Ericsson blames tough competition and the effects of flooding in Thailand for slipping back into the red during 4Q11.
The handset joint venture generated a loss of €207 million ($268.5 million) during the quarter compared to break even results in 3Q11, as intensifying competition took its toll on the firm’s average selling price, which fell from €166 in the third quarter to €143 in the final three months of the year. That decline drove revenue down from €1.5 million in 4Q10 to €1.2 million in the recent quarter.
Full year results don’t make for pleasant reading either, with the firm slipping from a profit of €90 million in 2010 to a €247 million loss in 2011. Despite the grim figures, president and chief Bert Nordberg noted that shipments of the firm’s Android smartphones grew 65% year-on-year. Nordberg revealed in October that the vendor plans to ditch low-end devices to focus solely on smartphones in 2012 – a move that will round out Sony’s multiscreen strategy once it completes a €1.05 billion buyout of Ericsson’s 50% stake in the joint venture.