Sony Ericsson (SE), which will become Sony in mid-2012, has released its Q4 and full year 2011 fiscal results and it’s not looking good. The smartphone maker reported a huge net loss of €207 million (about R2.128 billion) during the quarter and €247 million (around R2.539 billion) loss for the year.

It puts this lack of performance down to intense competition in the market, price erosion, component shortages resulting from flooding in Thailand in late October and early November 2011 as well as restructuring charges.

SE shipped over 9 million mobile units during Q4, compared to 9.5 million in the previous quarter and 11.2 million for the same period last year. The firm stated that the decline is down to a significantly lower number of feature phones shipped, partially offset by an increase in its smartphone sales as it has moved 28 million Xperia smartphones to date. A lower number (34.4 million) of SE handsets made their way to shops during the course of the whole year, when compared to the previous year’s total of 43.1 million.

Bert Nordberg, president and CEO of Sony Ericsson stated: “Our fourth quarter results reflected intense competition, unfavorable macroeconomic conditions and the effects of a natural disaster in Thailand this quarter. We are aligning our business to drive profitability and to meet customer needs.”

“In spite of these challenges, throughout 2011 we’ve shifted our business from feature phones to smartphones, and our Android-based smartphone sales in the quarter increased by 65% year-on-year. The Xperia portfolio, including the recently announced Xperia NXT series, will serve as a cornerstone of our smartphone lineup in 2012.”

 

In related news SE also recently revealed its Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) upgrade plans for its Xperia mobile devices including the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc.