| | By John Daly in Germany @ Friday, March 20, 2009 12:18 PM
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| | Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said today its problems are going to continue in its first quarter. The company's balance sheet is going to be hit by both weak demand for its handhelds and de-stocking in the channels. As such, Sony Ericsson reckons it will ship 14 million mobiles in the first quarter of 2009 with an average selling price of €120. Net loss before taxes will be somewhere between €340 million and €390 million ($460.5 million - $528 million), restructuring charges of 10 to €20 million ($13.5 million - $27 million) not included.
 Sony Ericsson's net loss is set to be considerably larger than in the fourth quarter 2008, when the company incurred a loss of €187 millon ($253 million). If the current forecast holds true, the ASP will at least have risen by €4 ($5.40). Sony Ericcson sold 96.6 million handsets last year, down from 103.4 million in 2007.
Earlier this week, a German business magazine reported Ericsson wanted to divest its stake in the ailing joint venture. Unfortunately, partner Sony is also in the doldrums and currently does not have enough money to buy Ericsson's share in the mobile phone maker, even though it might like to.
IT Examiner editor Andrew Thomas has a Sony Ericsson phone but was unavailable for comment at press time because he was down the pub.
Sony is in negotiations with various banks to secure loans to finance a takeover. X
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