Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday said it would cut 2,000 more jobs after it swung to a loss of 293 mn euros (384 mn dollars)
The group, which reported losses in the third and fourth quarters of last year, had warned in March that its first-quarter figures would be weak because of recessions in major economies that have hit demand for its handsets.
With its margins eroded, sales in free-fall and a lack of new products in strategic sectors, Sony Ericsson vowed to deepen job cuts announced last year in a bid to reduce costs and return to profitability.
"The additional cost saving programme announced today will include a further reduction in the global workforce of approximately 2,000 people," the company said in a statement.
Sony Ericsson had announced a cost-cutting programme in July 2008 that included 2,000 job cuts by the end of the first half of 2009 which was expected to bring its work force to around 10,000.
The global economic slowdown has cut demand for consumer electronics and established handset makers such as Sony Ericsson and market leader Nokia must also contend with the runaway success of Apple's iPhone, which dominates the high-end segment of the market.
Nokia reported a 90-percent drop in its first-quarter net profit and a more than 25-percent decline in sales on Thursday.
Sony Ericsson, created in 2001 in a merger between Ericsson of Sweden and Sony of Japan, has been trying to focus its business on fast-growing emerging markets in order to reduce dependence on the nearly saturated European zone.
As a result it entered the low-end market, where prices are lower and the competition is tougher, analysts say, but it has lacked the products to make a splash in emerging markets such as China and India.
The move was "not a good idea at all," Evli bank telecoms analyst Michael Andersson told AFP, explaining that it was hard to make money in that segment without huge volumes.
