Ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company was founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson and is now owned by the Wallenberg family. Today the company employs around 110,000 people and operates in around 180 countries. It holds over 37,000 granted patents, including many in wireless communications.
In a recent development the company ousted Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg. Vestberg, was CEO of the company for more than six years. He will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Jan Frykhammar, until a replacement is found. The company has been under pressure due to disappointing revenue and profitability figures in the last four consecutive quarters. It is battling fierce competition from Huawei Technologies Co. and Nokia Oyj.
Vestberg, a career Ericsson manager who joined the company straight out of business school in 1991, headed its global service division from 2003 to 2007 after having held various positions for the company in China, Sweden, Chile and Brazil. He was named chief financial officer in October of 2007 and replaced Carl-Henric Svanberg as CEO at the start of 2010.
Source: Bloomberg