Ericsson is the number one player in mobile networks. But with numbers two and three, Nokia and Siemens, having merged their networks businesses, and with Lucent and Acatel most likely to complete a merger, there is added pressure on the company to perform.
Add to that the threat of the Chinese companies, and Ericsson’s own lack of activity so far in the M&A market, and there is probably good reason for a bit of housekeeping at Ericsson to keep things shipshape.
At a press conference today Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO said that the business would be re-alinging itself into three divisions focussed, respectively, on Networks, Global Services and Multimedia. The new organisation will come into effect as of January 2007, when the multimedia unit is made effective. .
The reorganisation is intended to help the company address the challenges of convergence and the build out of next generation networks.
The company said it would be hiring 500 “engineers” in the areas of multimedia and next generation IP networks.
Radio access, core, transport and fixed networks will come under the networks business unit. While enterprise and mobile platforms will fall into the new Multimedia unit.