Following a rough morning for our friends in Finland, things are looking even worse just to the west. Sony Ericsson’s Q2 2009 was, in short, a disaster. To start, it shipped just over half the handsets it did a year ago — 13.8 million compared to 24.4 million in Q2 2008. That figure is also down from 14.5 in Q1 2009. Sales were down to €1.7 billion from €2.8 billion a year ago and where income is concerned, SE lost €213 million in the quarter. Sheesh. The silver lining on this incredibly dark cloud is that Q1 saw the company lose €293 million so at least the bleeding has slowed a bit. Dick Komiyama, President of Sony Ericsson, had this to say:
As expected, the second quarter was challenging and we still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson. Our focus remains on bringing the company back to profitability and growth as quickly as possible, and our performance is starting to improve due to our cost reduction activities. The new product portfolio that integrates communications, entertainment and social media applications should contribute to healthier topline development when shipments start later this year. We remain confident that the actions we are taking will further improve our financial situation and strengthen Sony Ericsson’s competitiveness.
