Ericsson hit by US slowdown
TELECOMS technology group Ericsson said it expects business in North America to remain slow as operators there rein in spending, as it reported fourth-quarter sales below expectations yesterday.
Ericsson has faced a slowdown in its formerly fast-growing North American and North Asian market, where construction on the latest generation of 4G mobile networks has largely peaked and shifted to cheaper capacity upgrades in high-density areas.
Sales at Ericsson, the world’s largest mobile network equipment maker, were 68bn crowns (£5.47bn), below a forecast of 70bn. Revenue at its networks unit, which accounts for just over half of its sales, fell seven per cent on a like-for-like basis.