Since last year, Sony Ericsson’s profits dropped to 50% in the first quarter. Despite this drop in profit and a 23% drop in unit shipped from 10.5 million to 8.1 million in the first quarter; Sony Ericsson managed to beat analyst estimates with profits of 11 million euros as opposed to their 27 million euro loss estimate.
This is in part due to Sony Ericsson’s focus on high end based Android smartphones. Quoting Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg, “Sony Ericsson’s profitability continues as we accelerate our shift towards an Android-based smartphone portfolio, with smartphones comprising over 60% of our total sales during the quarter.”
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 led the way to Android smartphones last year, but with the release of its new Xperia series, Sony Ericsson is really hoping to make a big impact on the smartphone market with high end model such as the Xperia Arc, Xperia Play, Xperia Neo and Xperia Pro.
Mobile operators and consumers alike, have been very receptive towards these new devices claims Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg; but since these handsets have been released towards the end of the quarter they dont have an impact yet on the sales figures for this quarter.
But the new quarter is going to be hard for Sony Ericsson who’s supply chain has been disrupted by last month earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The twin disasters has affected supplies of batteries, printed circuit boards and displays. Sony Ericsson is looking for alternative suppliers but the second quarter does not look too bright for the company.
Hopefully, Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia high end smartphones will be able to stand out among other manufacturers handsets such as Samsung and HTC.
