Sony Ericsson cuts Sweden staff by 400

[dhilipkumar]

Sony Ericsson cuts Sweden staff by 400

Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson will reduce its workforce by about 400 people in Lund, Sweden, cutting 160 employees and 250 consultants, the company said today.

The site in Lund had a workforce of about 4,000, including 1,000 consultants, before the cuts, according to a spokesman. One hundred consultants were laid off in April, a statement said.

The cutbacks are part of a plan to lower its global workforce by approximately 2,000 people -- out of a total 10,000 -- by the middle of next year. The plan was announced on April 17, when the company announced its results for the first quarter of 2009.The results showed sales had dropped to 14.5 million phones, compared to 22.3 million phones sold in the same period last year. The most recent figures are also a 40% drop compared to the last three months of 2008. The company is now the fifth-largest mobile vendor; Motorola ascended to the fourth spot from fifth.

The coming months will be important for Sony Ericsson. On May 28, it will detail its Idou smartphone, which was previewed at Mobile World Congress in February. The company said then the Idou will come equipped with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a 12.1-megapixel camera with a Xenon flash. A lack of smartphones is among the company's current problems.Also in June, the W995 will go on sale. The device is a phone that's intended to combine the company's prowess in both camera and music phones. The phone comes with an 8.1-megapixel camera, support for Assisted GPS and a range of music features, including a 3.5mm audio jack. It surfs the using either Wi-Fi or HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access).


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