L M Ericsson Telefon AB the Swedish Telecommunications company continues to prosper while riding the wave of popularity for digital mobile phones. Net profits in the first quarter rose 29.5% to the equivalent of $176.4m on revenue that rose 35.5% to $3,982.0. Ericsson operates in the areas of mobile phones, mobile systems, electronic components, cables and defense electronics with its principal markets situated in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Sales are up across the board, but spectacular growth (in the region of 100%) has been achieved in Mobile phone sales. This sector now represents 25% of revenue. Ericsson released its GF 788 handset in the period which at the time was the smallest Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) phone on the market (now usurped by Motorola Inc). Recent statistics from Dataquest Inc give Ericsson 55% of the US digital phone market and 2nd place in Europe (behind Nokia Oy), with a large proportion of the US sales having been stolen from Motorola Inc. These figures have been fiercely denied by Motorola who nevertheless decline to release their own production or market share statistics. But despite such strong group results, backed up by a claimed increase in order bookings of 36%, the figures fell short of Wall Street expectations. Earnings were just $0.18 per share when First Call analysts wanted $0.2.
