16 Jul 2011

Sony Ericsson result hit by quake

7:01 am on 16 July 2011

Sony Ericsson has blamed the the Japanese earthquake for a loss of 50 million euro ($US71 million) during the three months to June.

The mobile phone maker said the quake last March caused ''supply chain constraints'', which meant that about 1.5 million phones were not ready for sale.

Sony Ericsson is a 50-50 joint venture of Japanese entertainment electronics firm Sony and Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.

Its net profits for the first quarter of the year were 11 million euro.

The BBC reports Ericsson's shares fell 1.3% on news of Sony Ericsson's losses.