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Sony Ericsson eyes only smartphones from 2012

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CIOL Bureau
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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Mobile handset-maker Sony Ericsson said on Friday that it would in future focus entirely on the fast-growing smartphone market, as it posted in-line quarterly profits, making no reference to a report suggesting electronics giant Sony would take full ownership.

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Pretax profit at the company, currently owned jointly by Sony and mobile network gear maker Ericsson, was 31 million euros ($42 million), just higher than the mean forecast of 27 million euros in a Reuters poll and a swing back from a loss of $42 million in the previous quarter.

Last week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Sony was in talks to buy Ericsson's 50 per cent stake in the joint venture.

Sony Ericsson, facing strong competition from Apple's iPhone as well as the likes of Samsung and HTC, has been losing market share, and money, for a while. A recent focus on smartphones based on Google's Android platform has been gaining traction, pulling the company back into the black.

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The company, which stuck to its outlook for modest growth in the handset market this year, said that it would shift all its production to smartphones during 2012.

"Android-based Xperia(TM) smartphone sales now account for more than 80 per cent of sales and we have shipped 22 million Xperia smartphones to date," the company said in a statement.

"We will continue to invest in the smartphone market, shifting the entire portfolio to smartphones during 2012."

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