Three million Walkman phones were shipped last year

The world's fourth largest mobile phone company shipped 16.1 million phones in the last three months of 2005, a rise of 28% on the same period in 2004.

Pre-tax profits rose by 47% to 206m euros ($250m; �141m).

Sony Ericsson added it had shipped three million of its Walkman branded handsets since August last year.

It is also bringing a high-speed 3G version of the Walkman phone to market.

A joint venture between Sony of Japan and Ericsson of Sweden, the company grew its market share in 2005 as it launched a range of new models.

Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint said he expected the company's profit margin to hold at about 9% this year, with the handset market growing at 10%.

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