Sony-Ericsson has sold more than 100 million phones in one year for the first time in the company’s history to make a dramatic stride in marketshare, the handset maker announced today as part of its latest quarterly financial results. The partnership between Japanese and Swedish firms managed to sell 103.4 handsets over the course of 2007, amounting to slightly more than 9 percent of the market and fourth place overall.

The company also noted that its sales in the holiday period dropped sharply from $661 million in 2006 to $555 million in 2007 — about a 19 percent drop in one year. Sony-Ericsson has not discussed the reasons for the drop but notes that the average selling price of one of its phones has dropped from $216 to $182 as the company shifts away from smartphones to lower-cost devices such as the W300 or its J-series. The company has not said whether it intends to push these prices upwards or if it is consciously sacrificing profits for marketshare.