Ericsson Appoints Jan Karlsson Head of Digital Services

   By Dominic Chopping 
 

STOCKHOLM--Telecommunications-equipment company Ericsson AB (ERIC) said Wednesday it has appointed Jan Karlsson as head of its digital services unit, effective 1 August, 2018.

Mr. Karlsson has been acting in the position since February 1, 2018.

Ericsson Chief Executive Borje Ekholm said "Under his leadership he has ensured that we have continued to execute on our plans to turn the business around in digital services."

In Ericsson's second quarter report, published Wednesday, the digital services unit saw sales fall 11% to 8.8 billion Swedish kronor ($99.8 million), while the gross margin rose to 39.1% from 33.2%. Legacy product sales in the unit continued to decline in the quarter while new product sales declined mainly due to a contract delay in North East Asia, Ericsson said.

"Digital services is tracking towards a turnaround," Mr. Ekholm said in today's quarterly report. "The top priority is to turn around performance in the segment, but we are in parallel accelerating investments to make the portfolio 5G ready."

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2018 03:24 ET (07:24 GMT)

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