Ericsson revenues suffer overall, but OSS/BSS sees a slight improvement in 2014. Analysis and see Hans Vestberg’s summary video.
Compared with 2013 Q1, Ericsson’s overall operating income in 2014 Q1 dropped by 9.1%. The good news is that their supports solutions sales, comprising OSS and BSS, actually increased by 13% for the same period.
That increase for OSS/BSS is worth SEK400-million, or just over $60-million. While significant, it’s not quite enough to prop-up the shortfall elsewhere in the business. Network sales in particular, down 13%, had a big hit on the operating income. According to Hans Vestberg, Ericsson CEO, this was expected and caused by roll-out projects in North American and Japan slowing down.
Vestberg considers OSS/BSS to be a new and growth area for Ericsson. Their financial report indicates they’ve signed 9 ‘significant’ consulting & systems integration contracts, up from 8 in 2013 Q1. That includes OSS/BSS, IP, SDP and data centre build projects. Specifically addressing OSS/BSS, Ericsson cited contracts with CenturyLink in US for Service Agility solutions and with TeliaSonera in Sweden for a Customer Experience Management solution.
The full investors’ report for 2014 Q1 is available here.