Carl-henric Svanberg

CEO 2003 – 2009

Carl-Henric Svanberg took the position as Ericsson CEO in April 2003. At this point in time the company was going through a major re-structuring process, and Svanberg’s first job as CEO was to complete this process. With new leadership and a new organizational structure, Svanberg initiated a strategic approach that led to positive margins and cash flows. The new joint venture company, Sony Ericsson, also showed positive results, despite the backdrop of a telecoms market that was being heavily restructured. A landscape of more than 12 telecoms vendors was reduced to just 4 or 5.

When Svanberg began as CEO, the newly created Business Unit Global Services had a turnover of 25 billion SEK. When he left, the turnover was up to 70 billion SEK. Alongside this, Ericsson had started its journey to become one of the world’s largest software companies.