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Tag: Borje Ekholm

  • Ericsson Laying Off 8,500 Employees

    Ericsson Laying Off 8,500 Employees

    Ericsson is joining the list of tech companies laying off staff, with CEO Borje Ekholm saying 8,500 employees will be laid off.

    The tech sector has been especially hard-hit by the economic downturn, with companies large and small laying off workers. Ericsson is the latest to announce job cuts, according to Reuters, with Ekholm sending a memo to employees to inform them of the company’s plans.

    “The way headcount reductions will be managed will differ depending on local country practice,” Ekholm wrote in the memo.

    “In several countries the headcount reductions have already been communicated this week,” he said.

    Ericsson did not specify which regions would be most impacted, but analysts have predicted that North America would likely be one of the hardest hit.

    Ekholm said the layoffs were necessary to help the company remain competitive.

    “It is our obligation to take this cost out to remain competitive,” Ekholm said in the memo. “Our biggest enemy right now may be complacency.”

  • Ericsson Beats Forecast On Strong 5G Demand

    Ericsson Beats Forecast On Strong 5G Demand

    Ericsson has reported its quarterly results, beating forecasts on increasing 5G demand.

    Ericsson is one of the main network equipment providers, and has been a leader in the 5G rollout around the world. The company is in a strong position, with Huawei being banned by multiple countries, and Nokia facing challenges in its efforts to be competitive.

    In its quarterly results, Ericsson reported 69.6 billion Swedish crowns, surpassing estimates of 68.35 billion crowns. In addition, the company’s gross margin increased to 40.6%, up from 36.8% a year ago.

    “Networks sales grew organically by 20%, reporting a gross margin of 43.5% (41.1%) for Q4,” said Börje Ekholm, President and CEO. “This reflects continued high activity levels in North America and North East Asia, and also in Europe where we further increased market share. Networks delivered an operating margin of 19% for full-year 2020 – well above the 15%-17% target. Investing in R&D is fundamental to our strategy. Since 2017 we have increased R&D investment by SEK 10 b. and delivered SEK 16 b. of improved operating income. Our growth during 2020 is built on a strong and competitive 5G portfolio.”

    While the company warned there may be exposure as a result of Sweden’s decision to exclude Huawei from its 5G network. China has never been shy about warning of retaliation against countries that exclude Huawei. Nonetheless, the company’s 180 markets should help insulate it.

  • Ericsson Researchers Set New 5G Speed Record

    Ericsson Researchers Set New 5G Speed Record

    Ericsson researchers have set a new record for mmWave 5G, hitting 4.3Gbps download speeds.

    mmWave is the fastest variety of 5G, and offers revolutionary speeds compared to 4G. Speeds are so fast that experts have long said it could disrupt entire industries, making things possible that could never be done with previous technology. Artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, mobile gaming, virtual and augmented reality are just a few of the industries 5G stands to have a major impact on.

    Ericsson’s researchers have just displayed some of that promise, achieving a whopping 4.3Gbps downlink with mmWave 5G.

    “This is a fantastic achievement,” said Per Narvinger, Head of Product Area Networks. “To put 4.3Gbps in context, that is the equivalent of downloading one hour of ultra-high-definition, or 4K, content from a streaming service in just 14 seconds. Ericsson is taking the next steps in ensuring service providers can deliver the best capacity and data rates over millimeter wave 5G. The 8CC aggregation solution we have successfully tested will enable not only higher speeds but also large-scale 5G deployments and new business opportunities.”

    In the U.S., T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T have all deployed mmWave 5G in parts of the country, although rollout is slow as a result of the frequency’s extremely short range. This has led T-Mobile and AT&T to complement their mmWave service with low-band 5G, which has far better range and coverage but offers speeds similar to 4G.

    Ericsson’s announcement also lends weight to CEO Borje Ekholm’s recent comments that his company is at the forefront of 5G, both in terms of technology and scalability. In that interview, he said: “I find it’s a bit difficult to say that we’re behind when I see no one ahead of us.”

    When it comes to download speeds—he’s right.

  • Ericsson CEO Says His Company Has ‘No One Ahead Of Us’ In 5G Tech

    Ericsson CEO Says His Company Has ‘No One Ahead Of Us’ In 5G Tech

    In an interview with CNBC, Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm countered claims that his company is behind Huawei in 5G, or that it’s getting a free ride due to security concerns about the Chinese company.

    “First, this whole notion that we get some sort of free ride here, I wouldn’t say,” Ekholm said. “So far, there are very little effects on our order books from any of these discussions. It’s more, actually, creating uncertainty in the market, reducing investments overall.

    “So I think the whole uncertainty that we have geopolitically is not positive. At the same time, I hope we find a solution that allows the world to move forward. Security aspects are going to be critical in a 5G world—we connect everything. Of course, that’s going to put extra security demands on the networks, cybersecurity is a bigger threat. So we need to think differently about security. To some extent it’s a national security policy.”

    When asked specifically if Ericsson was behind Huawei in technology, or in its ability to deliver the scale and economy Huawei is often credited with, Ekholm was adamant that his company is in the lead.

    “Just a couple of facts, so we get those ones in there:

    “The first networks launched—they were in North America—it was actually with our equipment. The first operational 5G networks had the gear from us. It’s hard to be behind then.

    “The second one is, if you look at the first European network launched, it was here in Switzerland. 5G launched with Swisscom and that’s 100% an Ericsson customer. By the way, Swisscom has the best network of all operators globally and that’s all Ericsson equipment. So I find it’s a bit difficult to say that we’re behind when I see no one ahead of us.”

  • Ericsson to Pay Over $1 Billion Fine to Settle Bribery Charges

    Ericsson to Pay Over $1 Billion Fine to Settle Bribery Charges

    ZDNet is reporting that Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson has pled guilty to bribing officials in multiple countries and agreed to pay more than $1 billion in fines.

    Ericsson admitted to engaging in a long-standing scheme to bribe officials in China, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kuwait and Vietnam from 2000 to 2016. The longest campaign was in China, running the full 17 years.

    “As part of the settlement, Ericsson entered into a three-year agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to resolve charges of violating the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In the agreement, the DoJ agreed to defer any criminal charges and have them dismissed after the three-year period in exchange for Ericsson paying a fine of almost $521 million.”

    Ericsson also settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the tune of $540 million over the same charges. When taken together with the DOJ fines, Ericsson is paying a total of $1.06 billion.

    “I am upset by these past failings. Reaching a resolution with the US authorities allows us to close this legacy chapter. We can now move forward and build a stronger company,” Börje Ekholm, Ericsson President and CEO, said.

    “The settlement with the SEC and DoJ shows that we have not always met our standards in doing business the right way. This episode shows the importance of fact-based decision making and a culture that supports speaking up and confronting issues. We have worked tirelessly to implement a robust compliance program. This work will never stop.”

  • 5G Penetration Is Rapidly Gaining Momentum, Says Ericsson CEO

    5G Penetration Is Rapidly Gaining Momentum, Says Ericsson CEO

    “What we see is the 5G penetration is rapidly gaining momentum,” says Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm. “Just over the last two years, it’s been accelerated by more than a year. We see a very drastic acceleration of the demand for 5G. So far it’s primarily driven by North America where all the operators have the worst 5G as well as Korea where you see also all the operators. Those two markets are really driving the 5G demand right now.”

    Borje Ekholm, CEO of Ericsson, discusses the dramatic acceleration in the growth of 5G and how that is positively impacting their business in an interview on Bloomberg:

    5G Penetration Is Rapidly Gaining Momentum

    What we see is the 5G penetration is rapidly gaining momentum. Just over the last two years, it’s been accelerated by more than a year. We see a very drastic acceleration of the demand for 5G. So far it’s primarily driven by North America where all the operators have the worst 5G as well as Korea where you see also all the operators. Those two markets are really driving the 5G demand right now.

    We have upgraded our guidance today for a couple of reasons. One is the increased pace of 5G take up in the world. We’re of course seeing big demand in the early launch markets. But we’re also seeing 5G demand developing in other parts of the world as well. We are talking the Middle East and other parts of Asia. We see a slow pickup in Europe but we expect that to pick up as well. We’ve been quite bullish on the 5G development and see a number of opportunities for us there. Then we have also made an acquisition of Kathrein which adds sales to us. We see a tailwind from the currency as well.

    Focused On Continued Investment In Market Share

    We cannot see any impact on our order books as of today (due to concern about Huawei). If anything the geopolitical situation has caused more uncertainty. I would be honest to say more uncertainty normally leads to lower investments. That’s more what we’re seeing than actually anything else. We are we’re not seeing any positive news from this.

    As part of our strategy we laid out in 2017, an important part was to gain market share and gain footprint. We are already investing in taking contracts and new market share. That’s quite clearly the case. What we try to do is to be disciplined and actually take contracts where we have a clear competitive advantage and clear technological advantage. We’ve seen that we continue to gain contracts. They are margin dilutive in the short term but very positive in the long term. They have impacted the third quarter. It’s a very marginal impact but nevertheless it, of course, impacts us. Going forward, we see no dramatic changes compared to the third quarter but we will continue to take those contracts.

    5G Penetration Is Rapidly Gaining Momentum, Says Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm