Recapturing Ericsson's mojo

CRAFTING a turnaround in a 140-year-old company which practically set the standards for the telecommunications equipment market is no easy task. This is something that Börje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson Group, readily acknowledges. Mr Ekholm came out of semi-retirement in January to lead the embattled Swedish giant as it fights off the challenge posed by Chinese telecom equipment makers such as Huawei and ZTE and also a rejuvenated Nokia.

Technology breakthroughs which have resulted in the commoditisation of network equipment has allowed the challengers from China to break into what used to be an old boys' club of companies from Europe and North America which dominated this space.

These companies set many of the standards on which the telecommunications equipment industry runs and which allow users to, for example, take their phone to another country and log on to a local telecom network seamlessly.