Defying analysts' expectations, cell phone maker Sony Ericsson posted a solid fourth-quarter profit, buoyed in part by sales of its new line of camera phones and a strong showing in Asia.
The London-based company earned 43 million euros in the quarter that ended December 31, in contrast to a loss of 69 million euros a year earlier.
Analysts had expected a profit of 32 million euros.
It was the second consecutive quarter that Sony Ericsson, which had steadily lost money since it was founded in 2001, posted a profit.
Sales rose to 1.4 billion euros from 1.2 billion euros in the year-ago period.
For all of 2003, the company reported a narrower loss of 86 million euros, compared with 291 million euros in 2002.
Sales for the year totaled nearly 4.7 billion euros, up slightly from 2002's 4.2 billion euros.
Sony Ericsson cited continued improvement in Japan, where it has released several new handset models, including phones that boast built-in cameras.
The company also said it benefited from consumer interest in its new line of phones featuring clamshell designs, including the Z600 and Z200 models, as well as increased sales of its T610 series.
The phones, which are sold worldwide, were released during the fourth quarter and feature color screens, cameras and entertainment content.
But the venture's earnings were hurt by 9 million euros ($10.9 million) in restructuring costs, brought on in part by the decision to cease producing phones on the CDMA network standard for the North American market and the elimination of 500 research and development jobs in the United States and Germany.
The company, a joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony, decided to focus on developing phones that use GSM, or global system for mobile communications, which accounts for 70 percent of the world's wireless subscribers. Sony Ericsson is still producing CDMA phones for Japan.