Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson reported stronger than expected second-quarter sales and profit on Thursday and gave an upbeat forecast, drawing a contrast with bigger rival Nokia whose bleak outlook shook the market.
Shares in Ericsson, the Swedish parent of the venture with Japan's Sony Corp, fell 3 percent to 20.40 crowns at 1130 GMT following Nokia's second-quarter report, having risen as much as 1.4 percent earlier.
Sony Ericsson, the world's fifth biggest handset maker, made a pre-tax profit of 113 million euros ($139.8 million), reversing a 102 million euro loss in the same period last year as demand for its camera phones continued to rise. Market consensus was for a profit of 103 million.
"Sony Ericsson has been profitable for a year now and that profit is in a fairly steady trend upwards," Chief Executive Miles Flint told Reuters in an interview, adding its market share was stable at seven percent in the second quarter.
Nokia has been cutting its prices to claw back market share, and this is hitting its margins. Even then, analysts say its strategy has yet to deliver, given the continued erosion in its market share - to 31 percent from 32 in the first quarter.
Yet Sony Ericsson's pre-tax profit margin rose to 7.5 percent from 7.2 the previous quarter. Sales grew to 1.5 billion euros from 1.1 billion a year earlier, topping expectations of 1.4 billion.
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