Sony Ericsson sinks further into the red

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said it had plunged further into the red in the fourth quarter with a net loss of 247 million dollars, with sales slumping 22 per cent.

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said on Friday it had plunged further into the red in the fourth quarter with a net loss of 187 million euros (247 million dollars), with sales slumping 22 per cent.

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The company reported a loss of 25 million euros in the three months to September, according to previously published figures, and a profit of 373 million euros in the 2007 fourth quarter.

Sales in the three months to December 2008 came to 2.91 billion euros, down 22 percent from a year earlier, said the joint venture between Japanese electronics giant Sony and Sweden's Ericsson.

"The mobile telephone market has been very badly affected (by the global economic crisis) and, as expected, the fourth quarter was very difficult," Sony Ericsson head Dick Komiyama said in a statement.

"We expect a further deterioration of the market in 2009, especially in the first quarter," Komiyama added.

The company announced another cost cutting exercise to save 180 million euros, in addition to an earlier plan aimed at savings of 300 million euros.