Ericsson announces 1500 Layoffs

Beijing time January 25 Evening news, according to foreign media reports, Ericsson announced in Monday that the year will be reduced by 1500 people.　　Ericsson's fourth-quarter earnings in 2009 reported a year-on-year decline of 92% per cent in the quarter, thanks to a landslide in operator spending. Ericsson said its fourth-quarter profit was SEK 314 million (about 43.4 million U.S. dollars), compared with a 2008-year profit of SEK 3.9 billion (about $540 million).　　Ericsson had a profit of SEK 3.7 billion (about 512 million U.S. dollars) in 2009, down 67% from 2008. Ericsson has also upgraded its annual savings plan goals. Ericsson now plans to save 15 billion to 16 billion Swedish krona a year (about 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion dollars), higher than the previously set target of SEK 10 billion (about 1.4 billion dollars).　　This would increase the planned number of layoffs from 5000 to 6500.　　Ericsson launched the economy a year ago, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, and Ericsson is expected to spend 13 billion to 14 billion Swedish krona (about 1.8 billion to 1.9 billion US dollars). Hans Vestberg, Ericsson's new CEO, said in a statement that operators in multiple markets had cut spending, Vestberg sales of network equipment, but Ericsson remained market-share.　　Vestberg said that the decline in operator investment and the decline in sales of GSM network equipment occurred simultaneously, and operators ' current focus is shifting from voice services to mobile broadband. Greger Johansson, Gregg Johnson analyst at Redeye, said Ericsson's earnings were still in line with expectations, albeit at a lower-than-expected limit. "The professional services business is weaker than expected, and network equipment sales are somewhat worse than expected," he said. "But he thinks Ericsson's plan to expand the economy is a good news. (D-Gold)