Ericsson Lost Market Share in 2012

Ericsson AB managed to retain its position as the leading mobile network equipment supplier in 2012 but saw its market share dip slightly, according to its own calculations. In a press statement issued early Friday, Ericsson noted that its share of the mobile network equipment market dipped from 38 percent in 2011 to 35 percent in 2012. As a result, its share of the overall network equipment market (radio access, mobile core, IP routing and optical transport) dipped from 27 percent to 24 percent. As noted previously, Ericsson just held onto its crown as the world's largest equipment vendor by revenues in 2012, but was nearly caught by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (See Ericsson Retains Its Crown – Barely.) It's possible, then, that Huawei ate into Ericsson's pie during 2012, especially as the Swedish vendor noted that its market share was "negatively impacted by the ongoing technology shift in China where investments are moving from GSM to other technology areas where Ericsson has limited presence." Other market stats from the Ericsson market data machine include:

• A "maintained" 40 percent share of the global installed base of mobile base stations (based on shipments since 2004).
• A claimed market lead in LTE access measured "in shipments": The vendor claims it is twice as big as its nearest rival using this particular metric, though it should be noted that other vendors also claim LTE market leadership using other metrics (for example, revenues derived from LTE systems or the number of operator deployments).
• A "leading position" is OSS and BSS following the acquisition and integration of Telcordia.
• An increase in Global Services market share (services sold to communications service providers) to 13 percent, "a strong lead before the closest competitor" in a "fragmented market."

It's worth noting that these are Ericsson's own numbers and so are not independent, and as with any market data the devil is in the detail (in terms of the criteria deployed). But it's to the company's credit that it's willing to admit a shrinking overall market share. Of course, what would be even more interesting would be to see the market shares Ericsson apportions to rivals such as Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks and ZTE Corp., but I don't expect to receive a positive response to my request for such information… — Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading