Swedish communications equipment provider Ericsson has reported a 22pc drop in revenues in the first quarter of 2013 to €6.05bn (52bn kronor) from €7.7bn in the previous quarter.
First-quarter earnings fell by 86pc year-on-year to €140m (1.2bn kronor) due to restructuring charges connected with the downsizing of its Swedish operations and the effect of the divestment of Sony Ericsson last year.
Ericsson’s joint venture with STMicroelectronics set up in 2009 to capitalise on the demand for mobile chip sets has also run into trouble and the two companies have agreed to carve up the business.
Unable to compete with Qualcomm and the rise of fabless chip makers in Asia, Ericsson has accumulated losses in the region of US$2.9bn
Ericsson has agreed to take on the design, development and sales aspects of its semiconductors (including 2G, 3G and 4G multimode chips), while STMicroelectronics will handle all other existing products.
