\tEricsson reported a sharp year-on-year increase in income for Q4 2019 as a slowdown in the US induced by ongoing operator merger uncertainty [1] was offset by growth elsewhere, largely in northeast Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Mobile World Live, Ericsson EVP and head of business area Networks Fredrik Jejdling said the company had a \u201creally good start on 5G\u201d with initial deployments, but added the company had since experienced a drop in the US.<\/p>\n
This dip was attributed to ongoing uncertainty around the potential merger of Sprint and T-Mobile US, both Ericsson customers. The vendor, however, remained bullish on the region stating the underlying business fundamentals remained strong.<\/p>\n
While praising progress in Asian markets including South Korea and Japan, Jejdling conceded Europe remained challenging for sales of 5G kit.<\/p>\n
In February 2019, Ericsson executives bemoaned the progress [2] of regulators in Europe to make 5G spectrum available, a situation Jejdling said had not significantly improved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the RAN market, the European one is not growing,\u201d he explained, stating the region was a \u201creally difficult spot\u201d as, outside of a few countries on the continent, regulation and limited availability of 5G spectrum was still hampering progress.<\/p>\n
Financials
\nEricsson overturned a net loss of SEK6.5 billion ($680.8 million) in Q4 2018 with a profit of SEK4.5 billion in the recent period. The 2018 figure was itself a massive improvement [3] from the previous year, as the company\u2019s sweeping restructure began to make an impact.<\/p>\n
Net sales in Q4 2019 were up 4 per cent year-on-year to SEK66.4 billion.<\/p>\n
By the end of the year, Ericsson had 78 commercial operator 5G agreements in place, with 24 live networks.<\/p>\n
In a statement, CEO Borje Ekholm said: \u201cOur focused strategy with increased investments in R&D combined with operational efficiency is paying off. We have regained technology leadership, recovered previously lost ground in several markets and improved the financial results.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the quarter the company also settled a long-running corruption investigation by US authorities, having already made a provision in its accounts [4] earlier in the year to cover the expected charges.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/states-hit-back-in-sprint-t-mobile-merger-case\/
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/home-banner\/ericsson-chief-takes-aim-at-europes-5g-policies\/
\n[3] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/home-banner\/ericsson-turnaound-efforts-yield-results\/
\n[4] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/home-banner\/ericsson-pays-1-1b-to-settle-foreign-bribery-case\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ericsson reported a sharp year-on-year increase in income for Q4 2019 as a slowdown in …<\/p>\n
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