Sony Ericsson Sees Handset Declines Slowing

Updated from 3:16 a.m. EDT.

LONDON (TheStreet) -- Sony Ericsson , the 50-50 joint venture of Japan's Sony(SNE Quote) and Sweden's Ericsson(ERIC Quote), reported a wider third-quarter loss, but said it was seeing a slowdown in the decline in the global handset market.

Sony Ericsson forecasts that the global handset market for 2009 will contract by about 10% from about 1.19 billion units in 2008.

The joint venture reported a third-quarter loss of 164 million euros ($244.7 millin) compared with a year-earlier loss of 25 million euros. Sales fell to 1.62 billion euros from 2.8 billion euros last year as shipments fell 45% to 14.1 million.

The company estimated its market share in units was about 5% in the third quarter.

Sony Ericsson also said it would receive a fresh investment from both Sony and Ericsson to strengthen its balance sheet and improve liquidity.

Competitor Nokia(NOK Quote) delivered a mixed picture Thursday as smartphone sales and margins slipped sharply, but third-quarter earnings and sales beat Wall Street targets.

Nokia said it sold 108.5 million phones in the quarter, slightly better what analysts were expecting. The company said its market share remained 38%.

Meanwhile, Nokia said Friday that Rick Simonson has been named head of its mobile phones unit. Simonson, chief financial officer since 2004, will be replaced in that capacity by Timo Ihamuotila, who is currently global head of sales.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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