Sony Ericsson said net profit came to €447 million ($579 million) over the quarter ending December 31, 2006; the same quarter in 2005 gave a net profit of €144 million. Sales numbers for Sony Ericsson"s handsets grew by 61% thanks to continued high demand for its music and camera brands Walkman and Cyber-Shot, respectively.
Total sales came to €3.78 billion ($4.9 billion), up 64% from 2005. Going against the current industry trend of cheaper phones, Sony"s average selling price per handset was at €146 ($189). Cheaper phones have caused problems for many of Sony Ericsson"s main competitors. London-based Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Japan"s Sony Corp. and Sweden"s LM Ericsson, said it gained market shares of about 2% globally for the quarter, to about 9% of the total market.
"The fourth quarter saw Sony Ericsson finish a strong year with record volumes, sales and net income due to the soaring popularity of our imaging and music phones. Our target is to become one of the top three players in the industry, and the momentum we established in 2006 makes this an achievable ambition," said Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint.