Ericsson

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For other uses, see Ericsson (disambiguation).
Telefonaktiebolaget L. M. Ericsson
Type Public
NASDAQ: ERIC
Founded Stockholm, Sweden (1876)
Headquarters Stockholm,Sweden
Key people Michael Treschow, Chairman
Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO
Industry Telecommunications
Products see [1]
Revenue net sales 177.8 billion SEK or
USD 25.4 billion (2006)
Employees 63,781 (2006)
Slogan Taking You Forward
Website www.ericsson.com

Ericsson (Telefonaktiebolaget L. M. Ericsson) NASDAQ: ERIC. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is a leading provider of communications networks, related services and handset technology platforms. Through their Sony Ericsson joint venture, they are also a major provider of handsets.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginning

Lars Magnus Ericsson
Lars Magnus Ericsson

In 1875, in a repair workshop for telegraph instruments in downtown Stockholm, Lars Magnus Ericsson, 30, started off by repairing foreign-made telephones but soon began making and selling his own telephones. A few years later, he forms an agreement to supply telephones and switchboards to Sweden's first telecom operating company, Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolag.

[edit] Share ownership

Ericsson's former Headquarters at Telefonplan in Stockholm
Ericsson's former Headquarters at Telefonplan in Stockholm

In 1925 Karl Fredric Wincrantz took control of the company by acquiring the majority of the shares in the company. The company was also renamed Telefon AB LM Ericsson. At this time, Ivar Kreuger started showing interest in the company, being a major owner of Wincrantz holding companies.

In 1928 Ericsson began its long tradition of "A" and "B" shares, where an "A" share comes with 1000 votes against a "B" share, so Wincrantz was actually only controlling a few "A" shares, giving him control of the company whilst not actually controlling a majority of the shares. By issuing a lot of "B" shares, much more money was fed to the company, while maintaining the status quo of power distribution.

In 1930 a second issue of "B"-shares took place, resulting in Kreuger taking over the company with a mixture of "A" and "B" shares. He bought these shares with money lent from Ericsson, with security given in German state bonds. He then took a large loan for his own company Kreuger & Toll from ITT (administered by Sosthenes Behn) giving large parts of Ericsson as security. When Behn wanted to cancel this deal in 1932, he discovered the fact that there was no money left in the company, just a large claim on the same Kreuger & Toll that he had himself lent money to. Kreuger had effectively bought Ericsson with its own money. After Kreuger's suicide in 1932, ITT owned one third of Ericsson, but was forbidden to exercise this ownership because of a paragraph in the articles of association stating that no foreign investor was allowed to control more than 20% of the votes.

While Ericsson came close to filing for bankruptcy in 1932, this did not happen. Instead Marcus Wallenberg (jr) negotiated a deal with several Swedish banks to rebuild Ericsson financially. One of them, Stockholms Enskilda Bank, together with other Swedish investment banks controlled by the Wallenberg family, then gradually increased its possession of Ericsson "A" shares, with ITT still being the single largest owner. In 1960 the Wallenberg family finally struck a deal with ITT to buy their shares in Ericsson and the company has since then been controlled by the Wallenberg family, i.e. a part of the "Wallenberg sphere".

[edit] Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Ericsson are: Monica Bergström, Peter Bonfield, Kristina Davidsson, Börje Ekholm, Anna Guldstrand, Jan Hedlund, Katherine Hudson, Ulf Johansson, Per Lindh, Sverker Martin-Löf, Nancy McKinstry, Torbjörn Nyman, Anders Nyrén, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Michael Treschow and Marcus Wallenberg.

[edit] Products and services

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

[edit] Mobile and fixed networks

[edit] Mobile access

Ericsson is a provider in the area of 2G (GSM) and 3G (WCDMA/HSPA) mobile networks. Ericsson is actively involved in the development of standards for the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) of 3G.

[edit] Fixed broadband access

The expansion of Ericsson's fixed broadband offering is an important step to address network operators as they begin integrating their fixed and mobile networks.

[edit] IP core network (switching, routing, control and transport)

Ericsson's core network solutions include softswitch, IP infrastructure, IMS, media gateways and microwave and optical transport solutions to provide management of voice and data traffic.

[edit] Multimedia services and applications

Relationships with content and application partners enable Ericsson to deliver such solutions for mobile multimedia.

[edit] Services

By outsourcing certain activities to Ericsson, operators focus on their core business of attracting, serving and retaining customers. Ericsson's services organization has 24,000 professionals in 140 countries.

  • Managed services
  • Systems integration
  • Consulting and education
  • Customer support
  • Network rollout
  • Home internet Solution

[edit] Segment Other Operations

Ericsson provides several other complementary technical solutions.

[edit] Ericsson Mobile Platforms

Ericsson Mobile Platforms is a supplier of technology platforms (GSM/GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA) for mobile handsets and PC cards.

[edit] Ericsson Network Technologies

Ericsson Network Technologies (Cables) is a provider of copper and fiber cables for telecommunications and power networks.

[edit] Ericsson Enterprise

Ericsson Enterprise provides communications systems and services that enable businesses, public entities and educational institutions to have access to applications and services across multiple locations.

[edit] Ericsson Power Modules

Ericsson Power Modules is a supplier of DC/DC power converters and regulators, mainly to the communications industry.

[edit] Ericsson Microwave Systems

Ericsson Microwave Systems was sold to Saab AB in September 2006.

[edit] Cellular telephones

[edit] Telephones

[edit] .mobi and the Mobile Internet

Ericsson was instrumental, as an official backer, in the launch of the .mobi top level domain created specifically for the mobile internet.[1] Since the launch of .mobi in September 2006, Ericsson has launched Ericsson.mobi, it's mobile portal, and SonyEricsson.mobi, the mobile portal of SonyEricsson. Additionally, Ericsson hosts a mobile developer program called Ericsson Mobility World, designed to encourage fast development of mobile internet applications and services.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • John Meurling & Richard Jeans (1994) A switch in time: AXE — creating a foundation for the information age. London: Communications Week International. ISBN 0-9524031-1-0.
  • John Meurling & Richard Jeans (1997). The ugly duckling. Stockholm: Ericsson Mobile Communications. ISBN 91-630-5452-3.
  • John Meurling & Richard Jeans (2000). The Ericsson Chronicle: 125 years in telecommunications. Stockholm: Informationsförlaget. ISBN 91-7736-464-3.
  • The Mobile Phone Book: The Invention of the Mobile Telephone Industry. ISBN 0-9524031-0-2

[edit] External links

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