Sony Ericsson, the handset maker which is the joint venture between the two electronics companies, passed more bad news along to the global cellular industry.

For the last quarter Sony Ericsson said it lost 293 million euros ($386 million). The firm also said it would cut 20 percent of its staff.

The number of handsets sold by the firm in Q1 dropped at breathtaking 35% to 14.5 million, confirming fears brought on by Nokia (NOK).

Consumer spending is so weak around the world that people will not buy or replace handset. That is also almost certainly bad news for big cell service providers like AT&T (T).

Motorola's (MOT) earnings are going to be ugly.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.