Ericsson Realigning Its Business Strategy to Focus on 5G, IoT, Company Says

Ericsson said it's realigning its business strategy to focus on a few key areas, including “networks” and technology for 4G, 5G and the IoT. The firm also said it will have to write down $1.8 billion-$2.4 billion in charges as part of its turn-around strategy. Ericsson “will pursue a more focused business strategy to revitalize technology and market leadership, improve group profitability and enable customer success,” the company said in a Tuesday news release. “The overall strategy is to enable service providers to expand their business across industries and into new profit pools. We will drive the development of market-leading solutions, fully leveraging the potential of 5G, IoT and cloud. Restoring profitability is key and we will start by focusing the portfolio to fewer areas and securing effectiveness and efficiency in operations.” The changes were announced by CEO Borje Ekholm, who took over in January. Ekholm was chosen to lead the company by the Wallenberg family, which is the largest shareholder in the company through its Investor AB. Also, the company named an executive team as part of what it said was simplifying its organization (see the personals section of this publication.)