Sony Ericsson / Sony : General : 'Mixed Bag' of results for manufacturers - but good news for SE!
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Found this interesting article on how phone manufacturers have fared in Q1 of this year, not how much better
fared compared to the other manufacturers!
Source - Mobile Today
Figures from the major manufacturers for the first three months of 2007 reveal the first real signs that the global handset market is slowing down.
Neil Mawston of Strategy Analytics said Q1 was the 'first quarter in almost two years that undershot expectations', with annual growth less than 20%. Around 252 million phones were shipped worldwide during the three months, up just 12% from a year earlier.
Mawston said manufacturers' Q1 performance was a 'mixed bag', with Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson the stars of the show. Profitability improved for all except struggling Motorola. LG held it's own. Motorola was the under-performer, with a weak sell-in due to price competition from Nokia last year hitting Q1 shipments hard.
In the UK, LG is believed to have overtaken Motorola on market share for the contract handset market, helped by strong success of the Prada and Shine phones here. LG's global shipments were 15.8 million units, compared to 14.1 million units the previous year.
Motorola is believed to have lost UK market share from the 21% it had in December, while Nokia and Sony Ericsson have gained ground.
Globally, Sony Ericsson's performance was worth particular note. Martin Garner of Ovum said the company 'seems to be on a roll' with a smaller seasonal dip than most and a 2% market share improvement to 8%.
The manufacturer shipped 21.8 million handsets, a 63% increase compared to the same period last year.
Sales for the quarter were €2.9bn (£2bn), representing a year-on-year increase of 47%. Pre-tax profit was €362m (£246m), a year-on-year increase of 139%.
Sony Ericsson is expanding into lower tiers of the market with low and mid-tier products such as the W300 and W200 Walkman phones and the K310 but is managing to sustain its margins. Garner said: 'Sony Ericsson's biggest value growth came in EMEA - a much more mature market - where it achieved gains of 55% year on year thanks to being stunningly successful with Walkman and Cybershot phones, winning significant market share in the region in the process.'
Nokia pointed to low sales of higher end phones but managed to strengthen its market leading position in Q1 2007, despite dips in both net sales and profitability for the mobile phones division.
Mobile phone division sales fell 5% to €5.6bn (£3.8bn) compared to the same quarter in 2006. Operating profit for the segment slumped 14% over the year to €936m (£636m).
During the quarter, Nokia shipped 91.1 million units, of which around 77 million are estimated to be mobile phones. Nokia's total figure for mobile phones, multimedia and enterprise solution devices, was 91.1 million, up 21% compared to Q1 2006.
Mobile device volumes in Europe increased 17.7% to 23.9 million units.
Motorola, meanwhile, revealed the troubles it faces in its handsets division. showed the extent of the woes in its handsets division. Sales fell 15% in the past year and the division incurred huge operating losses of $260m (£123m).
Ovum's Garner said: 'There's no clear message on what will win back the market share. Motorola would normally have been expected to ship around 63 million phones in Q1. Actual shipments were down 30% on this, and were far closer to the #3 supplier - Samsung - than we have seen for a long time.'
Analysts remain unconvinced that new Z6 and Z8 products will help Motorola. 'Unless Motorola launches and starts shipping some truly brilliant new devices in the very near future, at the right price points, it may end up sacrificing somewhat more market share than it lost this quarter,' warned Garner.
Views from the manufacturers:
Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint: 'The strong sales and solid financial performance demonstrate a continuation of the momentum we established last year.'
Nokia's Mark Squires: 'Nokia is comfortably the number one. We have strength in range.'
Motorola president Greg Brown: 'In the Mobile Devices business, we are very focused on improving operating cash flow and profitability.'
Samsung: 'Robust sales of premium handsets including the Ultra Edition.'
LG: 'Remarkable turnover' in the mobile business.
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Posted: 2007-04-26 16:23:08
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Not surprising about Motorola. From the RAZR on, it's been all funky naming & flashy looks masking inferior specs, an idiotic UI, and lousy reliability. You can only fool so many people for so long.
Now, if only the US would get that message
One almost never sees
here. Motorolas dominate (we love Paris Hilton, so I'm not surprised), and one sees lots of Samsungs as well. Our carriers (GSM and CDMA) tend to favor those, especially for their "free with contract" phones.
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:04:09
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Just some notes I picked up from the Sony Question and Answer session at the Earnings Call on April 20th:
The deeper dive into the mid-tier seems to imply you may have reached saturation at the high tier. Is that the case?
No, there is not saturation at the high tier. There is still opportunity in the high tier. It is a reflection that Sony’s market share greater than it is at lower price points. Therefore, balanced profitable growth does require the company to do more volume at lower price points, but it is lower price points in the long run ASP, which is at around about 140, so it is more volume below 140 that then brings the ASP down.
Do you think that UIQ can become a platform accepted by operators like the Series 60 or Microsoft platform?
The company does not see any inherent resistance from operators to the acceptability of UIQ as a platform.
Nokia released the 5300 to the U.S. market and it is doing well at T-mobile. Apple is coming out with a music phone mid-year. Your major competitors have woken up to what you discovered long ago, that music and phones is a big seller. How is this shaping your view of 2007 and 2008 in terms of both pricing in these models and unit sales?
That area is getting very competitive. Just over two years ago, Sony stood up and said that it saw the future of mobile music was on the handset. That has proved to be the case and the fact that other people are coming in makes it more competitive. The company still thinks it has many things in the pipeline that will keep it competitive in music propositions going forward.
Could you break out the Cyber-shot versus Walkman sales this quarter?
Sony has now sold 26.5 million Walkman phones and since 2002 it has sold over 110 million music-enabled phones. In terms of Cyber-shots, the company has sold in the first quarter 2 million Cyber-shot phones.
Mobile operators are claiming they will move to 100% supply of 3G phones to not offering 2G phones at all on a 12 or 18 month view. Do you think that timeframe is accurate?
The market is moving in that direction. When exactly that will happen is a question for the operators. The market will get to that at some point in time, and Sony is prepared for it.
What view do you take on the movement toward 3G supply only of phones from predominantly Western European operators?
That was a bridge that was crossed in 2006. In 2005, Sony had comments from operators that it was still bringing the real differentiators to the 2.5G platforms. The company made that transition in 2006, particularly with Cyber-shot and Walkman. It sees nearly 3G now as an integral part of its offering in Western Europe. The basic efficiencies of network utilizations as far as the operators are concerned are better to operate. The companies do not want to continue investing in 2.5G operator networks. Sony is well positioned with the 3G platforms that it has, and EMP is relevant in that respect.
What was your 3G market share for this quarter?
It is around 17.5%
Admitted there is not saturation in the high-end segment
Is confident UIQ can become mainstream
Still thinks it has many things in the pipeline to remain competitive against the iPhone
Operators aiming to give up 2.5g phones in under 2 years
Companies do not want to continue investing in 2.5g (GPRS) networks
_________________
The UK's Best Selling Phones
P990i + BT30Q
[ This Message was edited by: goldenface on 2007-04-26 16:20 ]
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:19:07
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Well, SE sold 20 million odd units and nokia sold 90 million odd units... Is that good news for SE...
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:21:00
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The manufacturer shipped 21.8 million handsets, a 63% increase compared to the same period last year.
Not a bad result!
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:27:19
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Sony this, Sony that! Sony Ericsson phones are basically Ericsson with Sony logos! For him to respond as if he is speaking for Sony only and not Sony Ericsson is not only ridiculous but also infuriating!
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:45:00
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I knew that would get on someones nerves
Its confusing.
It was a Sony press conference but he was speaking on behalf of
It is obvious the questions were about Sony Ericsson but as he was a Sony guy / lass he couldn't say "we at Sony Ericsson......".
They don't really give much away . . . .
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:53:39
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Mr orbis like u 2 kn tht 65 out of 90 were low end which can only earn Rs100 per hand set. So dnt jump to 90.
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Posted: 2007-04-26 17:59:12
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I would've slapped him a long time ago had I been close by! I mean, this is/was a merger and not a buyout. Ok, enough of too much ranting.
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Posted: 2007-04-26 18:06:00
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On 2007-04-26 17:45:00, EMS06 wrote:
Sony this, Sony that! Sony Ericsson phones are basically Ericsson with Sony logos! For him to respond as if he is speaking for Sony only and not Sony Ericsson is not only ridiculous but also infuriating!
Ha ha you may wonder why it call Sony Ericsson not Ericsson Sony. Granted Ericsson has the technology but Sony brings better design and marketing.
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Posted: 2007-04-26 18:13:14
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