Back in black
It's starting to look like Sony Ericsson's Android smartphone strategy is paying off. Despite the fact that it's consistently behind rivals such as HTC and Samsung in getting newer versions of the OS onto its handsets, focusing on Android, as well as operating expenses, pushed SE back into the black for FY 2010.
We've reproduced the recently-announced Q4 and full 2010 figures for SE below. Note that while the number of units shipped dropped considerably, sales in Euros didn't fall by nearly so much due to the considerably improved average selling price.
This may well have been a contributor to the massively improved gross margin figure, although this will be more due to ‘streamlining'. As a result, SE managed to turn a big net loss in 2009 into a modest profit last year.
"2010 was a turnaround year for Sony Ericsson," said SE CEO Bert Nordberg. "Our four consecutive quarters of profit reflect the success of our shift towards an Android-based smartphone portfolio." SE had shipped over nine million Xperia phones since their launch.
|
|
Q4 2009 |
Q3 2010 |
Q4 2010 |
FY 2009 |
FY 2010 |
|
Number of units shipped (million) |
14.6 |
10.4 |
11.2 |
57.1 |
43.1 |
|
Sales (Euro m.) |
1,750 |
1,603 |
1,528 |
6,788 |
6,294 |
|
Gross margin (%) |
23% |
30% |
30% |
15% |
29% |
|
Operating income (Euro m.) |
-181 |
63 |
39 |
-1,018 |
159 |
|
Operating margin (%) |
-10% |
4% |
3% |
-15% |
3% |
|
Restructuring charges (Euro m.) |
-150 |
-4 |
-3 |
-164 |
-42 |
|
Operating income excl. restructuring charges (Euro m.) |
-32 |
67 |
43 |
-854 |
202 |
|
Operating margin excl. restructuring charges (%) |
-2% |
4% |
3% |
-13% |
3% |
|
Income before taxes (IBT) (Euro m.) |
-190 |
62 |
35 |
-1,043 |
147 |
|
IBT excl. restructuring charges (Euro m.) |
-40 |
66 |
39 |
-878 |
189 |
|
Net income (Euro m.) |
-167 |
49 |
8 |
-836 |
90 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average selling price (Euro) |
120 |
154 |
136 |
119 |
146 |
