Sony Ericsson posts new losses

The mobile industry received another blow today with news that Sony Ericsson expects a loss of €340m to €390m (£297m to £341m) in the first three months of this year.

It predicts total shipments of 14 million phones, with an average price of €120 (£105), 36 percent fewer than the same period last year and 43 percent down on the final quarter of last year.

The news, which follows Palm's announcement of its seventh consecutive loss-making quarter, hit shares of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Sony Ericsson is ranked number four handset vendor behind Nokia, Samsung and LG.

The handset market in developed economies was considered near saturation even before the downturn, though some analysts predicted that smartphones would ride the storm.