 Investment in research and marketing paid dividends, it said |
Strong demand for mobile phone handsets that can download music have boosted sales and profits at Sony Ericsson. The firm sold 60 million music-enabled phones last year as overall sales rose by 23 million to 74.8 million units.
Yearly profits rose from 512m euros to 1.2bn euros ($1.5bn; �788m) on the back of strong demand in emerging markets like Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Sony Ericsson also said it expected total industry sales of mobiles in 2006 to have beaten expectations.
It expects global sales of handsets to total about 980 million, considerably above the 950 million figure predicted by analysts.
In the fourth quarter, profits at the firm rose 144% to 502m euros, while sales rose 64% to 3.7bn euros.
"Our target is to become one of the top three players in the industry and the momentum we established in 2006 makes this an achievable ambition," said Miles Flint, the firm's president.
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