Ericsson eyes lucrative Asian market<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Swedish telecommunications group Ericsson
\nexpects good growth of its phone systems and mobile handphones in
\nAsia over the next few years, senior vice president for Asia
\nPacific Bo Landin said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We look upon the Asian markets as the fastest growing markets
\nwith a very high potential today,\" HongKong-based Landin told
\nReuters in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n
He said Ericsson had a presence in nearly all countries in
\nAsia, including China, and expected growth both in volume and
\nmarket share.<\/p>\n
Asia accounted for about 23-24 percent of Ericsson's total
\nturnover in 1996, an increase of some three to four percentage
\npoints over the previous year, he said.<\/p>\n
Landin declined to forecast growth rates for this year.<\/p>\n
Ericsson would focus on expansion in the region by introducing
\nmore competent transfer technology, manufacturing and expertise
\nin general, Landin said.<\/p>\n
China, considered a major growth market, would be tapped for
\nits manufacturing potential while efforts were also being made to
\npush into the lucrative Japanese market.<\/p>\n
\"I foresee that production will be further increased, enhanced
\nand that we will also have more development of products in Asia,\"
\nLandin added.<\/p>\n
In China, Ericsson has plants in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai
\nand Guangzhou, which produce handsets, switching equipment and
\nother telecommunication components.<\/p>\n
It also has manufacturing facilities in the Malaysian capital,
\nKuala Lumpur, and in Bangkok, Thailand.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, after an earlier decision to stay out of Japan,
\nEricsson has decided now to woo Japanese consumers because of the
\ndramatic rate of growth in the cellular market.<\/p>\n
He said Ericsson's role as a system supplier of mobile phones
\nin Japan triggered the interest to also provide handsets.<\/p>\n
\"The Japanese market is the fastest growing cellular market
\ntoday with roughly one million new subscribers every month.\"<\/p>\n
Asked about the impact of deregulation in Asia's booming
\nmarkets, most notably in Singapore where the cellular market was
\nopened up on April 1, Landin said competition would fuel growth.<\/p>\n
\"In most countries where deregulation has taken place earlier,
\nmarkets have automatically grown because of competition
\nintroduced between the operators,\" he said, adding that the same
\ncould be expected in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"We see this as an opportunity to increase our sales in
\nvolume.....and in relative terms,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ericsson's latest figures show it has a market share of more
\nthan 60 percent in Singapore's digital mobile phone market.<\/p>\n
\"It is probably the highest single market share we have in any
\nAsian country today,\" Landin said.<\/p>\n
Landin estimates the company has a share of about 15-20
\npercent of the market worldwide.<\/p>\n
A larger portion of Ericsson's business is in fixed networks,
\nsuch as switching and transmission solutions for enterprises and
\ndata communication, and in mobile phone systems.<\/p>",
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