Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson reported second-quarter earnings today that were just below expectations but said it took market share by offering more phones at different price levels.
It reiterated it had upgraded its global market outlook for 2005 to more than 720 million units from a previous 690 million.
The group, a joint venture between the Japanese electronics giant and the Swedish telecoms equipment maker, has been traditionally known for higher-price phones, but it has recently been offering phones to get into lower and mid-price markets.
Second-quarter pretax profit came in at €87 million, just below the average forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts of €91.5 million. Sony Ericsson said its sales were €1.61 billion versus a forecast €1.52 billion.
The second-quarter pretax figure was higher than the first quarter's €70 million - but down on the €113 million of the same period of 2004.
The group painted an upbeat picture of the quarter, saying it had gained market share. It shipped 11.8 million units versus 9.4 million in the first quarter.
Sony Ericsson said the global handset market grew faster than expected during the quarter, mainly due to increased demand in lower price segments in both mature and emerging markets.