Sony Ericsson has published its annual results for 2011, along with separate figures for the final quarter of the financial year. It’s likely to be the last quarterly report from the joint venture, which is expected to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony within the next few weeks.
The fourth quarter saw Sony Ericsson reporting a net loss of 207 million Euro, with a 247 million (£206 million) Euro loss for the whole year. That contrasts with a Q4 2010 net income of €8 million and a 2010 overall figure of €90 million.
34.4 million devices were shipped in 2011; a drop on the 43.1 million in 2010.
Bert Nordberg, President and CEO of Sony Ericsson, said “Our fourth quarter results reflected intense competition, unfavorable macroeconomic conditions and the effects of a natural disaster in Thailand this quarter. We are aligning our business to drive profitability and to meet customer needs. In spite of these challenges, throughout 2011 we’ve shifted our business from feature phones to smartphones, and our Android-based smartphone sales in the quarter increased by 65% year-on-year. The Xperia portfolio, including the recently announced Xperia NXT series, will serve as a cornerstone of our smartphone lineup in 2012.”
Sony Ericsson estimates that its share of the global Android-based smartphone market was 10% in volume and in value for the full year. It’s previously said it’ll stop producing ‘feature phones’ this year.