Ericsson favors China market ( 2003-06-14 15:51) (Xinhua)
China will become the biggest market for the Swedish telecom equipment giant
Ericsson with continued investments and cooperation with local partners, said a
top company official.
Saturday's China Daily quoted Carl-Henric Sovanberg, company president as
saying "China is very, very important for Ericsson and is very likely to become
our biggest market in the world."
While the telecom markets in North American and Europe slow, the Asian market
is going from strength to strength in spite of setbacks brought about by SARS,
said Sovanberg.
China, with its fast growth and huge potential, is undoubtedly one of
Ericsson's targets, he said. Its market currently stands second only to the
United States.
He said that investment in research and development in China would grow at an
annual rate of 25 percent and reach 500 million US dollars in total, almost
doubling the 290 million US dollars between 1985 and 2000.
About 20 percent of Ericsson's 3,000 employees in China are engaged in
research and development work. At the same time, the Swedish giant will
strengthen its presence in the fixed line telecom market.
Ericsson China also announced on Thursday that it had signed a 30 million US
dollars contract with China Mobile's Hebei provincial subsidiary to supply
equipment and software for the expansion of the latter's global system for
mobile communications (GSM) network.
