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 Alcatel 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 Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO said that the business would be re-aligning 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.
• Jan Wäreby, currently Corporate Executive Vice President and Head of Sales and Marketing at Sony Ericsson has been named as the boss-elect of Ericsson’s newly-announced Multimedia division. He will start in the new job on 1 January 2007.
Wäreby has held his current position at Sony Ericsson since the establishment of the joint venture on 1st October 2001. Prior to joining Sony Ericsson, Wäreby held the position of Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Products Division at Ericsson.
Commenting on today’s announcement Miles Flint, President of Sony Ericsson, said, “Jan Wäreby was directly involved in the creation of Sony Ericsson when the joint venture was established five years ago. He has been instrumental in building our sales and marketing operations world-wide and has made a tremendous contribution toward the success of our company. We wish him every success in his new role at Ericsson.”
Jan Wäreby said, “My five years at Sony Ericsson have been exciting, challenging and very satisfying. I was always impressed by the passion and commitment of our employees and customers who believed in our vision during the early days of the company. I am proud of the success we have achieved so far, and I am particularly pleased that Sony Ericsson has grown into one of the coolest brands in the telecoms sector. I look forward to applying the experience I have gained from this dynamic consumer environment to my new role at Ericsson, and to continue to collaborate with Sony Ericsson in the future.”