Emerging markets save Ericsson’s and Nokia’s bacon


Posted on October 21, 2011  /  0 Comments

No one knows how they’re defining users of mobile Internet services, but leave that aside. They’re entitled to some latitude in this moment of reprieve.

Hans Vestberg, the chief executive of Ericsson, said in an interview that the results indicated that the transition to mobile Internet and smartphones was bucking the general economic downturn.

“Increased global smart phone penetration, new devices and the introduction of tiered pricing is driving continued mobile data traffic growth,” Mr. Vestberg said. The number of users of mobile Internet services, which deliver speeds comparable to fixed-line networks over wireless grids, rose to 900 million this month from 500 million in January, he said.

Ericsson predicts that the number of mobile broadband subscribers will rise to five billion by 2016. Ericsson’s quarterly gains were powered by developing markets, led by Latin America, China and northeast Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Sales in Scandinavia and central Asia rose 49 percent.

Full report.

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