"It has been an incredibly rewarding time for me and we have achieved a lot together in North America,” said Najmi Jarwala. “We have introduced an increasing number of new products, grown market share, built operator relationships and, perhaps most importantly, have laid the foundation for North America to play a key role in the long term growth and success of Sony Ericsson. I have been privileged to have led a team of passionate, creative and innovative people at Sony Ericsson and I wish them every success,"

Najmi will be replaced starting April 1 by Anders Runevad, Executive Vice President of Sony Ericsson and Head of Global Sales & Marketing (photo). A separate announcement regarding Najmi’s successor in his dual role will be made in due course.

The move will certainly cast an even stronger shadow of lack on confidence over the company. Sony Ericsson has been hit hard by the current financial crisis and already announced it expects to report a significant loss for the next quarter.

The company failed to gain any significant ground on the US high-end smartphone market, which is currently being split between Apple’s iPhone, Research In Motion’s BlackBerrys and HTC’s Touch.