Q4 Highlights:
* 18% increase in volume year-on-year
* Continued market share gains and profitable growth
* Continued investment for the future
2007 Highlights:
* Over 100 million units sold - more than double global market
growth rate
* Margins remain strong as company shifts to broader portfolio
* Unit growth underpinned by increased sales of lower priced phones
* 145 million music enabled phones sold to date, of which 57
million were
* Walkman® phones - maintaining leadership in music
The consolidated financial summary for Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications AB (Sony Ericsson) for the fourth quarter ended
December 31, 2007 is as follows:
Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q4 2007 2006 FY 2007FY
Number of units shipped
(million) 26.0 25.9 30.8 74.8
Sales (Euro m.) 3,782 3,108 3,771 10,959 103.4
Gross Margin (%) 29.0% 30.7% 31.8% 29.1% 12,916
Operating Income (Euro m.) 484 393 489 1,257 30.6%
Operating Margin (%) 12.8% 12.7% 13.0% 11.5% 1,544
Income before taxes (Euro
m.) 50li2 384 501 1,298 11.9%
Net Income (Euro m.) 447 267 373 997 1,574
1,114
Average Sales Price (Euro) 146 120 123 146 125
Units shipped in the quarter reached 30.8 million, a 18% increase
compared to the same period last year, generating continued
sequential and year-on-year market share gains. Sales for the quarter
were Euro 3,771 million, in line with sales a year ago reflecting a
strategic shift to a greater proportion of lower priced handsets in
the product portfolio. Income before taxes for the quarter was Euro
501 million in line with a year ago. Net income for the quarter was
Euro 373 million.
Sony Ericsson gained market share during the quarter due to the
continued success of such products as the K550 Cyber-shot(TM) and the
W200, W300 and W580 Walkman® phones in the Americas and Europe.
Although Average Selling Price (ASP) increased slightly sequentially
during the quarter, as a result of the introduction of new flag-ship
Walkman® and Cyber-shot(TM) phones such as the W910 and K850 models,
the trend for falling ASPs year-on-year reflects the company's
direction to broaden its product portfolio."Sony Ericsson finished a very good year, which highlighted how the
company has strategically positioned itself to capture market share
with an expanded product portfolio. Investments are being made in
both R&D and brand building, to deepen the portfolio and strengthen
Sony Ericsson's presence in new and developing markets around the
world. Our target remains to become one of the top three players in
the industry, and the momentum we established in 2006 and 2007 makes
this a realistic and achievable ambition," said Dick Komiyama,
President of Sony Ericsson.
Sony Ericsson estimates the 2007 global handset market as being over
1.1 billion units, in line with previous forecasts. On this basis the
company believes it grew market share around 2 percentage points to
reach slightly over 9% for the full year 2007 compared to full year
2006.
During the fourth quarter Sony Ericsson announced that it had entered
into a series of agreements with Motorola, Inc. whereby Motorola
acquired 50% of the share capital in U.I. Holdings BV, the Dutch
owner of the Swedish software company UIQ Technology AB, which was
acquired by Sony Ericsson from Symbian Ltd. earlier in the year. The
transaction was ratified by the appropriate competition authorities
during the quarter.
Sony Ericsson announced a number of new products during the quarter
including high-end W890 Walkman® and the K630 and the K660 HSDPA web
phones. The company also announced its strategy to expand Sony
Ericsson's PlayNow(TM) digital content distribution application into
a full service proposition during 2008.
On November 1, 2007 Sony Ericsson's president Miles Flint stepped
down and Hideki 'Dick' Komiyama joined the company to replace him.
Dick Komiyama joined Sony Ericsson from Sony Corporation where he was
Director, Chairman, Sony Electronics Inc., USA, and Executive Vice
President of Electronics Marketing and Sales Strategies of Sony
Corporation, Japan.
WALKMAN® and Cyber-shot(TM) are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Sony Corporation.
PlayNow(TM) is a trademark of Sony Ericsson.
EDITOR'S NOTES:
Financial Statements and Additional Information:
Financial Statements:
Consolidated Income Statement
Consolidated Income Statement - Year-to-Date
Consolidated Income Statement - Isolated Quarters
Consolidated Balance Sheet
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows - Year-to-Date
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows - Isolated Quarters
Additional Information:
Net Sales by Market Area by Quarter
- ENDS -
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications was established as a 50:50 joint
venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate
functions located in London. The company serves the worldwide
communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones,
accessories and PC-cards, and it has R&D sites in Europe, Japan,
China, India and America. Sony Ericsson is the title sponsor of the
Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote
the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. For
more information, please visit www.sonyericsson.com
CONTACTS:
Investors/Analysts
Ericsson Investor Relations
Gary Pinkham (Stockholm) +46 8 719 0858
Sony Investor
Relations
Shinji Tomita (London) +44 207 444 9713
Tatsuyuki Sonoda (Tokyo) +81 3 6748 2180
Press/Media
Sony Ericsson Corporate Communications & PR
Aldo Liguori (London) +44 208 762 5860
Merran Wrigley (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.
The full report (including tables) can be downloaded from the
following link:
