Sony Ericsson slipped into its worst quarterly net loss in five years, as the company posted a net loss of 25 million euros in the third quarter as opposed to a profit of 267 million euros during the same period last year, shook primarily by consumers buying fewer mobile phones.

“Consumer confidence is less almost day by day,” said Sony Ericsson President Dick Komiyana, as he observed the clouding economic slowdown and banking crisis.

As a resort, Komiyana has announced plans to cut the company’s handset range by 20 percent in order to raise profitability.

Additionally, the company will consolidate its three handset development unit into a single unit to reduce duplication and improve efficiency.

Furthermore, he didn’t winnow out the possibility of increasing Sony Ericsson''s 300 million euros cost-cutting program, which would involve 2000 job cuts, to improve profitability.

However, Sony Ericsson managed to pull off increased sales in Western Europe, the company’s chief market, and in the Middle East and Africa, during the third quarter with its aggressive price-cutting that also enabled the company to maintain its global market share of mobile phones shipped to customers at 8 percent.