<p><b>Sony Ericsson smartphones, Xperia Arc (L) and XperiaX8, are displayed during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada</b> <p></p><p> <p>World number five mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson posted lower than expected fourth-quarter pretax profit on Thursday and said it saw only modest growth in the handset market this year. <p></p><p> <p>Sony Ericsson, owned by Ericsson and Sony Corp., posted pretax profit of 35 million euros ($47.14 million) on sales of 1.53 billion. <p></p><p> <p>Analysts in a Reuters poll had a mean forecast for a pretax profit of 79.7 million euros and sales of 1.82 billion. <p></p><p> <p>The poor performance compared sharply with smartphone rival Apple Inc which posted forecast-topping results this week, boosted by strong sales of its iPhone and iPad. <p></p><p> <p><b>Images by Reuters</b> <p></p>