Sony Ericsson is now offering a wider variety of mobile phones to consumers, but its outlook for 2010 still remains unclear.
"During Q4 we saw some positive signs of a market pick-up," said Bert Nordberg, Sony Ericsson president, in a statement. "However, we believe that the value of the market will be flat for the next 12 months. We believe that we will be able to keep or stabilize our value share."
Despite a three-percent increase up to 14.6 million units shipped during Q4, the final year-on-year figure showed a sales decline of 40%. In addition, the company announced plans to cut as many as 1,500 jobs worldwide in 2010, adding to the 5,000 jobs it was forced to cut in 2009.
Late last year, Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia X10 smartphone -- a powerful Google Android-powered device that uses a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor -- but the phone likely won't draw customers away from RIM, Apple or Motorola.
Sony Ericsson has been slow to leave behind its archaic music-player phones as consumers show more interest in robust smartphones. The company is now developing even more phones with Internet and social networking functionality built-in, which could slowly help make a difference in their popularity with consumers.
Early numbers indicate Sony Ericsson has been able to sell more phones recently -- a trend that is expected to continue in 2010. The company has seen good success with its Satio and Aino mobile phones, and hopes further cost-cutting procedures and the X10 will help the company in 2010.
I still think it’s far too early to tell if Sony Ericsson will be able to have a good year, but I’m happy the company finally realized it needs smartphones to survive. Motorola, which has seen problems with demand in the past few years, has enjoyed great success with the release of their new lineup of Android-powered smartphones. Hopefully Sony Ericsson will be able to turnaround their operations this year and produce phones that will have a higher demand with consumers.
