Struggling Sony Ericsson changes leadership

Sony Ericsson chief executive Dick Komiyama will step down at the end of this year, following the firm's dire second-quarter financial performance. He will be replaced by Bert Nordberg, executive vice president of the Ericsson Group.

A transition period, in which both Nordberg and Komiyama will govern together, will start on 15 October to ensure a smooth transition, the company said.

The joint venture between Swedish telecoms vendor Ericsson and Japanese electronics giant Sony posted second-quarter sales of €1.7bn (£1.47bn), a decrease of 40 per cent on last year. The firm shipped 13.8 million mobile handsets, down 43 per cent on last year.

Sony Ericsson does not expect its cost restructuring programmes, including 2,000 job cuts announced in July 2008 and another 2,000 this July, to have an effect until next year.

"I believe it is the right time for me to begin transferring the leadership of the company to a person who is able to complete the transformation programme and lead Sony Ericsson through its next phase of development," said Komiyama in a statement.

Nordberg said that he was pleased to be joining Sony Ericsson, and planned to use his expertise to turn the company around.

"With the growing importance of open source platforms, applications and content in the mobile handset industry, I believe the experiences I have gained in Silicon Valley will be very relevant to Sony Ericsson's business going forward," he said in a statement.

The firm also announced that Sony Corporation chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer will succeed Ericsson president Carl-Henric Svanberg on the Sony Ericsson board.