Although Sony Ericsson defied expectations with its quarterly profits, its revenues missed all forecasts, while Toshiba blamed the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan for its less optimistic outlook.
Demand for its smartphone and cost cuts helped Sony Ericsson avoid losses during its first quarter, which was marred by supply shortages as a result of the devastating earthquake.
“The Japan earthquake made it a challenging quarter operationally and we are experiencing some disruptions to our supply chain,” chief executive Bert Nordberg said in a statement.
However, its pre-tax profit of €15m beat analysts’ predictions that the company would be in the red come the end of the three-month period.
Revenues were lower than expected, with just 8.1m phones sold in the quarter. It noted the lowest market share in about 10 years.
Earlier this month, the company said the aftermath from the quake was limiting volumes in its new smartphone offerings and delayed the wider launch of its neo model to the third quarter.
The quake and tsunami hit component supplies for electronics firms across the world.
Meanwhile, electronics maker Toshiba cut its profit forecasts by 4pc because the earthquake and tsunami affected operations at some of its plants in Japan.
The Japanese firm said it now expects an operating profit of 240bn yen for the year ended in March, about 10bn yen short of its previous forecasts.
However, there was some better news as the company said it revised up its net profit estimate to 135bn yen as its restructuring profits were less than first anticipated.
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
