Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., the mobile phone venture of Sony Corp. and Ericsson AB, reported its first quarterly loss in five years on costs to cut jobs and a loss of market share to rivals, including Apple Inc.

A net loss of 25 million euro, or $33.8 million, was logged, compared with a profit of 267 million euro a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement Friday. Sales fell 9.7 percent to 2.81 billion euro, as Sony Ericsson's unit sales fell to 25.7 million euro from 25.9 million euro a year earlier.

Sony Ericsson, formerly among its parents' biggest profit contributors, has slipped in global mobile phone rankings after failing to sustain demand for its Walkman and Cybershot camera phones. The company is cutting 2,000 jobs globally, and is betting the new touch-screen Xperia handset will take market share from competitors.

"As expected, the third quarter has continued to be challenging," Sony Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Dick Komiyama said in a statement. "We are committed to executing our alignment plan as speedily as possible to ensure we have the right size and organizational structure to return the business to healthy profitability."

Sony Ericsson, created in 2001 from the mobile phone units of Ericsson and Sony that had struggled to survive individually, made its mark with more expensive phones featuring high-resolution cameras and music clip storage. The company has marketed its models in James Bond movies, and the Xperia X1 device lets users customize the screen with nine touch-screen panels.

The average price for a phone was 109 euro, down from 116 euro in the second quarter and from 120 euro a year earlier, Sony Ericsson said. Nokia Oyj, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, said Thursday its phones sold for an average of 72 euro in the third quarter. Nokia also said it would likely regain market share in the fourth quarter.

The company said Friday its selling prices fell as it sold more low-priced devices. Sony Ericsson forecast growth this year will be driven by emerging markets, where such models dominate.

Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, said Thursday industry mobile phone shipments will be about 1.26 billion units this year, up 10.5 percent from 1.14 billion in 2007. Sony Ericsson's market forecast matches Nokia's estimate.

Sony Ericsson said last year it aimed to eventually capture the No. 3 position among global mobile phone makers. Trailing Nokia are now Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Inc. and LG Electronics Inc., which leapfrogged Sony Ericsson this year.