Sony Ericsson North America Chief jumps ship

It’s a bad sign for any company when your senior leadership starts handing in letters of resignation. Fellow struggling mobile phone maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT) saw its executive ranks dropping like flies on worsening news of the company’s dwindling handset business, and it seems that Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) is feeling the same crunch. Sony Ericsson has announced that Najmi Jarwala, head of Sony Ericsson operations in the US and North America, will be stepping down at the end of the month.

The resignation is said to allow Jarwala to “pursue other career opportunities,” but makes no mention of the Japanese-Swedish joint venture’s massive 2008 losses and even larger expected losses in Q1 2009. The XPERIA X1-maker has seen better days, and it seems globally weakened demand for mobile phones in general have hurt Sony Ericsson’s sales.

In the interim, Sony Ericsson NA Vice President Anders Runevad will fill in for Jarwala until a suitable replacement can be found.

It’s unclear if Jarwala’s resignation is related to rumors surrounding Sony’s bid to buy-out Ericsson’s stake in Sony Ericsson.

Hopefully, this isn’t a sign of things to come from Sony Ericsson.

[Via: BusinessWeek]