Ericsson reports full year profit of EUR 3,04 billion

“We have experienced the strongest growth in mobile users ever. With 300 million new subscribers in 2004, 27% of the world’s population now has access to mobile communications,” says Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. “This is exciting for a company with a vision of an all-communicating world. We are proud of our performance in 2004 with strong growth and high margins. This has been a year with a number of strategic business wins in both systems and professional services and we have clearly strengthened our market position further. 2004 was a breakthrough year for WCDMA with rollouts across Europe and parts of Asia Pacific. The total number of subscribers has now passed 16 million. In 2005 deployments will start in North America as well. Through a number of orders in WCDMA/HSDPA operators are confirming their confidence in our technology leadership. The good growth of GSM and EDGE continues, especially in emerging markets, driven by the basic need for communication. Our introduction of more cost efficient solutions for low penetration areas as well as enhanced data communication capabilities further expands the potential,” concludes Carl-Henric Svanberg.