It appears that Sony Ericsson is finding itself short on components after the Japanese earthquake, Reuters said.
There are shortages of displays, batteries, camera modules and printed circuit boards, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg said.
The shortage may be “stabilizing” for a while but is expected to have a “bigger impact” during the second quarter of 2011, Reuters said.
"We are now fighting for parts with bigger players," Nordberg told Reuters in an interview.
Sony Ericsson was working with its parent companies, Sony and Ericsson, to have more influence in talks with parts makers, Reuters adds.
In addition, Toshiba said operating profits fell below forecasts because of the earthquake, tsunami and power disruptions, Reuters said. And Texas Instruments had slower-than-usual quarterly sales growth, Reuters added.
Sony Ericsson said the impact of the quake was “limiting volumes in its new smartphone offerings and delayed the wider launch of its neo model to the third quarter.”
Both second and third quarters could see difficulty because of the problems in Japan, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Reuters.
The Japan earthquake has also led to an impact on Sony Ericsson's supply chain and operations, as “shipments falling a considerable way short of expectations," CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber told Reuters.
"This is a challenging situation for Sony Ericsson, but with lowered operating expenses and continued improvement to gross margin, it is at least in a better position to weather the storm than it was 12 to 24 months ago," Blaber added in the statement to Reuters.
Operations at several Sony facilities have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and related power outages in Japan, according to TechZone360.
Given the widespread power outages, Sony last month voluntarily suspended its operations at several sites, TechZone360 said. In addition, Sony hoped to release a handheld gaming system, the PlayStation NGP, by November 2011, but production of the device slowed down because of the earthquake and tsunami, according to NG Portable.
Ed Silverstein is a TechZone360 contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Tammy Wolf
