Sony Ericsson carries Q1 profit momentum into Q2

July 16, 2010 8:26 AM EDT

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson carried its first-quarter momentum through second-quarter by posting a 12 million euro ($15.5 million) profit on strong smartphone sales. Its revenue rose 4 percent to 1.76 billion euros.

Sequentially the company posted earnings of 21 million euros, its first profitable quarter since 2008, as improved cost structure drove better margins.

In the same quarter of last year, the firm reported a loss of 213 million euros on sales of 1.68 billion euros. Sony Ericsson has long struggled with losses and falling market share.

Bert Nordberg, President of Sony Ericsson said on Friday the company's Xperia X10 and Vivaz smartphones as well as the recently launched Xperia X10 mini and Xperia X10 mini pro devices have been well received by operators.

"We are now well positioned for long term growth," Nordberg said.

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Units shipped in the quarter was 11 million, up 5 percent from the first quarter, but a 20 percent fall from last year due to a smaller production portfolio, it said.

"Sony Ericsson maintains a forecast of slight growth in units in the global handset market in 2010," the company said.

From the third quarter onwards, the company expects its Xperia X10 smartphones to be upgraded to run on the Android 2.1 operating system in selected markets, with additional features to be added to these devices in the fourth quarter.

Xperia X10 smartphone is powered by Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Android, which is Google's Linux operating system for mobile devices, competes with Nokia's Symbian platform and Apple’s iOS system for the iPhone.

Research firm Gartner expects the Android platform to surpass Apple’s iOS system by 2012 and take the second spot behind Nokia's Symbian.

Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless on Thursday launched the sale of Motorola's highly anticipated new Droid X smartphone.

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the business news leader