Sony Ericsson has appointed Bert Nordberg as the new chief executive to replace Dick Komiyama, who will retire at the end of the year. Nordberg, who currently heads Ericsson's US technology division, is tasked with leading the struggling cellphone maker back to profitability and increasing its market share, which has fallen below 5 percent. Nordberg plans to focus on increasing market share, restoring profitability, ongoing restructuring, and developing popular products in the coming years. Nordberg, who is currently the Executive Vice President at Ericsson and leads the company's Silicon Valley business, expressed his confidence in the support from both parent companies and believes that achieving profitability is not far off. Sony CEO Howard Stringer will take over as the new board chairman on October 15, replacing Carl-Henric Svanberg, who will become chairman of BP Plc in January. Analyst Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics noted that these management changes indicate Sony and Ericsson's commitment to working together, which will be reassuring for Sony Ericsson's employees and customers. Among the top five cellphone vendors, Sony Ericsson experienced the biggest decline in sales from the first quarter. The research firm Gartner reported that Sony Ericsson's market share has dropped to 4.7 percent globally, due to missing out on mobile phone trends such as full keyboards, Internet browsing, and navigation. Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, stated that Sony Ericsson's new CEO, Nordberg, faces major decisions in restructuring the company's mobile software strategy and reducing reliance on mid-tier feature phones to improve profitability. Nordberg plans to revamp the firm's product portfolio to include stronger offerings in smartphones, as Sony Ericsson is currently known for focusing on music and imaging in their phones. "In this field, successful products are essential," he stated. Nordberg has been employed by Ericsson since 1996, after previously working with companies such as Data General Corp. and Digital Equipment Corp. In July, Sony Ericsson reported a pre-tax loss of 283 million euros ($400 million) and predicted a challenging remainder of the year, anticipating a market contraction of at least 10 percent. "I believe this is a result of the need for a fresh start, some new energy. Additionally, Sony Ericsson has struggled in performance over the past year and a half," noted Greger Johansson from Redeye. At 12:14 GMT (8:14 a.m. EDT), Ericsson's shares were trading at 66.90 crowns, which was a decrease of 0.5 percent. This performance was better than the DJ Stoxx European technology index, which was down 1.7 percent.