Echoing earlier predictions from Nokia, the world’s largest maker of cell phones, handset maker Sony Ericsson called for a market drop of at least 10 percent.

 

The news comes as Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) announces a 35 percent decrease for the quarter just ended, and a 36 percent decline in sales from the year-ago quarter. The company’s $387 million net loss in the first quarter is spurring Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) to slash 2,000 more jobs, officials said.

 

According to Dick Komiyama (News - Alert), president of Sony Ericsson, the first quarter was “extremely challenging for Sony Ericsson due to continued weak global demand.”

 

“We are aligning our business to the new market reality with the aim of bringing the company back to profitability as quickly as possible,” he said. “The management intends to pursue an additional cost saving program targeting a further annual operating expense reduction of ($521 million), to be completed by mid-2010.”

 

The company says it’s already laid of 2,000 workers, and that the next 2,000 will bring “restructuring charges” of about $260 million.

 

“Market share in the first quarter decreased and is now estimated to be around 6 percent, down two percentage points sequentially,” company officials say.

 

Here’s a look at the mobile phone market share landscape last year:

 

Sony says it's expecting its share of that pie to fall to 6 percent. 

 According to Louise Nordstrom of the Associated Press, some analysts are criticizing Sony Ericsson of paying too much attention to mid-range and high-end phones, and not enough attention to emerging markets.

 

In the past month alone, TMCnet has reported on the company’s launch of the W205 walkman phone and the C905 8 megapixel camera phone.