Sony Ericsson reports continued growth in sales and profit
Units shipped in the quarter reached 10.7 million, a 51% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales for the quarter were Euro 1,678 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 29%. Income before taxes was Euro 136 million and net income was Euro 90 million, which represent year-on-year improvements of Euro 97 million (249%) and Euro 28 million (45%) respectively.
The company maintained its momentum from the first half of the year, generating profitable growth. Sony Ericsson's Average Selling Price (ASP) increased sequentially in line with company expectations due to new mid and high-end Japanese and GSM products beginning to ship.
"Sony Ericsson has enhanced its portfolio during the quarter with the launch of exciting products. Over 60% of phones sold during the quarter featured integrated cameras which illustrates our position as a market leader in mobile imaging," said Miles Flint, President of Sony Ericsson. "The quarter has seen us shipping a number of new products such as our first GSM megapixel camera phone, the S700, the new P910 smartphone and the youth orientated K500 series. In addition we also announced together with Vodafone the V800, our second 3G UMTS handset."
In Japan the company launched the mova® SO506iC for NTT DoCoMo, Sony Ericsson's first handset with i-mode® FeliCa Service for mobile wallet applications[1] and the W21S, a 3G CDMA 1x EV-DO phone for KDDI.
| Q3 2003 | Q2 2004 | Q3 2004 | |
| Numbers of units shipped (million) | 7.1 | 10.4 | 10.7 |
| Sales (EURO m.) | 1305 | 1504 | 1678 |
| Income before taxes (EURO m.) | 39 | 113 | 136 |
| Net income (EURO m.) | 62 | 89 | 90 |
** Q2 & Q3 2004 IBT includes consolidation of BMC and Net Income includes deduction of minority interest in BMC[2]
[1] In July 2004, NTT DoCoMo. Inc. started the i-mode FeliCa Service in Japan, which enables mobile phones to function as a mobile wallet for electronic payment or as an electronic membership card using the "FeliCa" contactless IC chips embedded in the phone. FeliCa is a contactless IC chip technology developed by Sony Corporation and the registered trademark of Sony Corporation. i-mode and mova are registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo. Inc. in Japan.
[2] On June 30 2004, Sony Ericsson announced it had increased its equity stake in a Chinese factory, Beijing Ericsson Putian Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. (BMC) to 51%, taking over majority ownership of the facility from Ericsson. BMC operations have been fully consolidated into Sony Ericsson in the second and third quarter which had a positive effect on the company results. The name of the factory has been changed to Beijing SE Putian Mobile Communications Co. Ltd (BMC).
Note:
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories, PC-cards and M2M solutions. Established as a joint venture by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, with headquarters in London, the company employs approximately 5,000 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. For more information, please visit www.SonyEricsson.com
CONTACTS:
Investors/Analysts
Ericsson Investor Relations
Gary Pinkham, Vice President (Sweden) +46 8 719 0000
Sony Investor Relations
Yukio Ozawa, Vice President (Tokyo) +81 3 5448 2180
Yukio Ozawa, Vice President (Tokyo) +81 3 5448 2180
Chris Hohman, Senior Manager (London) +44 20 7444 9711
Press/Media
Ericsson Market & External Communications
Pia Gideon, Vice President (Sweden) +46 8 719 2864
Pia Gideon, Vice President (Sweden) +46 8 719 2864
Sony Corporate Communications
Gerald Cavanagh (Tokyo) +81 3 5448 2200
Keita Sanekata (Tokyo) +81 3 5448 2200
Sony Ericsson Corporate Communications
Aldo Liguori, Corporate Vice President (London) +44 208 762 5860
Peter Bodor, Manager, (London) +44 208 762 5863
Merran Wrigley, Manager (London) +44 208 762 5862
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We have identified certain important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of risk factors see Sony's and Ericsson's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly each company's latest published Annual Report on Form 20-F.