Ericsson Sees Sales Slip Again

Ericsson said that its sales in the third quarter for comparable units, adjusted for FX and hedging, decreased 4% year-on-year to 54.6 billion Swedish krona (8.14 billion US dollars). The leading telecoms equipment maker said networks revenues fell 17% year-on-year, primarily due to weaker sales in parts of Europe, China, Korea and Russia, as well as continued decline in CDMA equipment sales. "This was partly offset by strong development in North America," Ericsson added. 

Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson, said: "We believe that the fundamentals for longer-term positive development for the industry remain solid. There are now one billion smartphones in the world and the number is expected to reach three billion in 2017. ....However, at the same time, we see a continued macroeconomic slow down and political unrest in parts of the world, which has led to more cautious operator spending..."

However, Ericsson's Global Services division increased revenues 16% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis and represented 45%  of group sales in the third quarter compared to 44% in the second quarter. source: Ericsson statement