[originaltext] Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, the cellphone joint vent

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, the cellphone joint venture owned by the Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, reported a 28 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit Tuesday as mobile phone shipments rose more than 50 percent.
    In 2004, net income at Sony Ericsson, the world’s sixth-biggest mobile phone maker, rose to 55 million euros from 43 million euros a year earlier. Earnings included a tax charge of 45 million euros. Sales jumped to 2 billion euros from 1.44 billion euros a year before.
    The company, based in London, became profitable for the first time last year as its handsets featuring cameras became popular. At the same time, competition from Asian manufacturers and price cuts by Nokia have put pressure on Sony Ericsson, which lost its position as the world’s fifth-biggest handset maker to LG Electronics in the third quarter.
    The company shipped 12.6 million phones in the quarter, 56 percent more than a year earlier. Pretax profit rose to 140 million euros from 46 million euros a year earlier; the latest results were just short of 165 million euros.
    In 2004, the average selling price of Sony Ericsson’s phones rose to 160 euros from 157 euros in the 4th quarter. The comparative price was calculated by Bloomberg by dividing revenue by the number of phones shipped.
    Sony Ericsson’s third-quarter global market share grew to 6.4 percent from 5.3 percent a year earlier, spurred by strong sales in Western Europe, according to the latest figures from the research firm Gartner. LG’s market share grew to 6.7 percent from 5.3 percent.