Sony Thrid Quarter 2007 Results down

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Sony Ericsson third-quarter profit slipped as it sold more lower-priced phones. Despite popular Walkman phones the company earned 267 million euros ($377.7 million) in the July-September period compared with 298 million euros a year earlier.

The company blamed the decline in profit on a defection to its low- to mid-range priced phones which, on average, cost around 120 euros ($170), cheaper than the premium range.

The company's high-end phones, including its P1 smart phone and the W580 slider Walkman phone — which can cost significantly more — sold well but not enough to offset the imbalance. Sales rose to 3.1 billion euros ($4.39 billion), up nearly 7 percent from 2.9 billion euros in the third quarter of 2006.

The company said it shipped 25.9 million cell phones worldwide, an increase of 31 percent from the 19.8 million phones shipped a year ago. The company said it saw solid gains worldwide, including in key markets in Europe, North America and Latin America.

Sony Ericsson said it forecast that the total number of sales of cell phones worldwide, including those from rivals like Nokia Corp., Samsung and Motorola Inc., will be more than 1.1 billion. By the end of the third quarter, Sony Ericsson said it had about 9 percent of the world's market share.

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