Sony Ericsson Disappoints, Profits Nosedive

On the other hand, while Nokia is doing quite well, Sony Ericsson? Not so much. MocoNews reports that the beleaguered handset division managed to break even in the face of what it called “challenging market conditions and increased competition”— but net income nosedived in the second quarter, plummeting to just 6 million euros ($9.5 million).

In essence, sales were down 9%, gross margins fell to 23%, its average handset selling price fell, and its future growth will likely be limited to emerging markets, rather than any regaining of market share in the dominant ones. We’d like to see them at least give a serious effort to the U.S. market. Despite its complexities (such as the competing CDMA and GSM network technologies), there’s plenty of opportunity here—a bunch of random Sony Walkman handsets on AT&T simply isn’t enough.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.