Sony Ericsson is having a bit of a hard time, as it has recently announced that both its net sales and net income are declining. This is mainly due to the facts that, as the company puts it, there's a "moderating demand of mid-to-high end mobile phones". Also, it seems that the Swedish Japanese company is also affected by product delays, but it didn't mention the exact handsets that have not reached the market at the planned release dates.

Now, the drop in sales and income does not mean, in any way, that Sony Ericsson is not a giant handset manufacturer anymore - it only means that the current results are not as good as those of last year. This has also made Sony Ericsson lose the fourth place in the world's top handset manufacturers for the first quarter of the year. The Swedish Japanese company is currently on the fifth place, behind Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and LG.

In the second quarter of 2008 (which ended yesterday, June 30) Sony Ericsson estimates that it has sold about 24 million handsets, at an Average Selling Price (ASP) of 115 Euros (about $180) per unit. The final results for the quarter in question will be announced on July 18.

Bad sales aside, there's also good news for Sony Ericsson, as the Swedish-Japanese joint venture was appreciated by Greenpeace for being the greenest company of the year. Sony Ericsson and Sony are the only companies to score above 5 (out of 10) on Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics for 2008.

The ecologist organization mentions that Sony Ericsson's latest products are all PVC-free. Moreover, none of the SE products released on the market starting January contain beryllium, antimony or phthalates.

While Sony Ericsson takes the first place on Greenpeace's list, the last positions are occupied by Nintendo, Microsoft and LG.