Ericsson earnings boosted by 5G network rollouts

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson has reported upbeat third quarter earnings, helped mainly by the rollout of 5G wireless networks in China and a strong US market. The Stockholm-based company said on Wednesday that net profit for the July-September period was 5.6 billion kronor ($640 million), compared with a loss of 6.9 billion kronor the previous year. Sales were up 1% at 57.5 billion kronor.

Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm said the company’s contracts for the next generation 5G networks in mainland China “have developed according to plan, contributing positively to profits in Q3 and are expected to improve further. Ekholm also pointed to the North American market where underlying business fundamentals remain strong, driven by consolidation in the market and increased demand for 5G, the new generation rapid mobile networks. Ericsson competes in the 5G business with China’s Huawei and Finland’s Nokia, the two other main global network suppliers. South Korea’s Samsung has, too, made inroads to the network business in the past few years and recently scored a lucrative, multi-billion-dollar 5G deal with major US carrier Verizon Wireless.