Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson says it made a loss in the fourth quarter due to a sharp slump in sales.

Friday's income statement still showed an improvement from the same quarter last year, however — from a loss of euro187 million to euro167 million.

Weak sales hurt profits, falling around 40 percent to euro1.75 billion.

For the full year 2008, the net loss landed at euro836 million, compared with a previous profit of euro73 million.

The LM Ericsson and Sony Corp. joint venture says it has shipped 14.6 million units in the quarter, up 3 percent from the third quarter but a 40 percent plunge from the same October-December period a year ago.