CEO & Asia outlook.
Ericsson Chairman Ramqvist: Comments on Asian Operations
Stockholm, June 12 (Bloomberg) -- The following are comments by Lars Ramqvist,
chairman of Ericsson AB, on the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker's
operations in Asia. ''Overall in Asia, we've been quite lucky so far, but we're depending
on what happens in Japan,'' he said. The yen devaluation ''could influence the
competitiveness of China relative to the rest of Asia, so we have to watch this.''
Ericsson's orders in Asian fell ''only in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, but they are
small economies and small partners of Ericsson in relation to Japan and China,''
Ramqvist said.
China, Ericsson's single largest market, has so far been relatively untouched by the
economic slowdown in the rest of Asia. Still, the weakening of the Japanese yen has
started to put pressure on China to devalue its currency, the yuan, as Japan is its biggest
trading partner. ''So far our business is quite stable in China,'' said Ramqvist.
Ramqvist said he met a group of senior Chinese officials last week, including Vice
Premier Wu Bangguo. The officials told him China plans to expand investments into
telecommunications by 30 percent a year. ''They were very firm on the statement not to
devalue at all,'' said Ramqvist. Still, the officials added that ''all that depends on what
happens in Japan,'' Ramqvist said.
China may be facing a price war with Japanese and other Asian manufacturers, which
could force it to devalue to keep its economy growing. A devaluation would shrink
Ericsson's income from China.
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