Ericsson Claims 5G Leadership

Ericsson reported a 1% year-on-year rise in revenues on a like-for-like basis for the fourth quarter of 2019 to 66.4 billion Swedish krona (6.9 billion US dollars). The telecoms equipment maker said a fall in sales in North America was compensated for by growth in other markets, primarily in the Middle East and North East Asia.

Börje Ekholm, CEO of Ericsson, said: "We have regained technology leadership, recovered previously lost ground in several markets... we are a leader in 5G with 78 commercial 5G agreements with unique operators and 24 live 5G networks on four continents. .... Due to the uncertainty related to an announced operator merger, we saw a slowdown in our North American business in the fourth quarter, resulting in North America having the lowest share of total sales for some time. However, the underlying business fundamentals in North America remain strong. .. It is still too early to assess possible volumes and price levels for the expected deployment of 5G in China, and we expect that the initial challenging margins will shift to positive margins over the lifespan of the contracts." source: Ericsson statement