Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd, the handset venture owned by Sony Corp and Ericsson AB, posted a third straight quarterly profit, helped by the popularity of camera phones such as the T610 and the T630.
Net income at Sony Ericsson, the sixth-biggest mobile-phone maker, was 82 million euros (US$98.7 million) in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 104 million euros a year earlier, it said in a Hugin statement.
Sony Ericsson, which lost 879 million euros in the first 21 months of its existence, is boosting sales and returning to profit as consumers opt for phones with cameras and color screens. President Katsumi Ihara last month raised his forecast for 2004 industry sales.
"An excellent set of results," said Per Lindberg, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Europe with a "buy" rating on Ericsson, the world's largest maker of wireless networks.
Sales surged 66 percent to 1.34 billion euros from 806 million euros. Pretax profit was 97 million euros.
"Income before taxes was exceptionally strong due to favorable market conditions," the company said in the statement.
Cost reductions initiated last year also helped boost earnings, Sony Ericsson said.
Industry sales of mobile phones will grow to more than 550 million units this year, up from a previous estimate of about 520 million, Sony Ericsson said. The company said it gained market share in the quarter.
Sony Ericsson's unit shipments surged 63 percent to a record 8.8 million phones in the quarter as it sold more low-priced handsets. The average selling price rose 2 percent to 152 euros from the year-earlier quarter, while dropping from 180 euros in the previous three months.
Ihara, who's led Sony Ericsson since it was founded in October 2001, has said he plans to focus on making phones with better cameras to grab market share. Sony Ericsson last month announced the S700 phone, which has a 1.3 megapixel camera, allowing for higher-resolution pictures.
Nokia Oyj, which has held the No. 1 position since 1998, on Friday said first-quarter sales fell as competitors took market share.
The Espoo, Finland-based company will start selling a cheaper version of a business handset this quarter to regain lost market share.
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