By Elena Vasquez, Telecom Gazette

Ericsson reported third-quarter net income of $601.9 million (€536.6 million) on revenue of $6.17 billion, beating expectations, and announced a sweeping simplification of its group structure that will merge two Asian market areas into one from January 1, 2027. Organic sales rose 7 per cent year on year, driven primarily by higher sales in the Networks business.

The restructuring, announced alongside the results on October 15, 2026, will combine the current Market Area North East Asia and Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India into a single Market Area Asia-Pacific. Ericsson said the changes are intended to create a structure where R&D capabilities are increasingly leveraged, with strengthened focus on customer needs and cost efficiencies.

Who will run the new APAC unit?

Patrick Johansson, currently Head of Market Area Europe, Middle East and Africa, will lead the new APAC market area. Ericsson will begin a recruitment process to appoint his successor at EMEA.

President and CEO Per Narvinger said: "With the changes announced, the Executive team will be leaner and more balanced in terms of responsibilities, which will enable greater customer focus and the ability to act fast in a dynamic environment."

He added that Asia-Pacific is home to many important customers and that the new structure "will help us strengthen our focus and execution in order to serve our customers even better."

The two current regional heads will step aside as the unit takes shape. Chafic Nassif, Head of Market Area North East Asia, and Andres Vicente, Head of Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India, will support the formation of the new unit and hand over responsibilities on December 31, 2026. Narvinger credited Nassif, a 16-year Ericsson veteran, for his role in the North East Asia business, and praised Vicente's commercial experience across Europe and Asia.

What happens to the enterprise wireless business?

The same announcement dismantles Business Area Enterprise Wireless Solutions (BEWS). Its current portfolio will be redistributed across other parts of Ericsson, a move the company frames as a way to create R&D synergies and the scale needed to drive product innovation.

The redistribution follows two tracks:

• Neutral Host solutions and Ericsson Private 5G move into Business Area Networks, consolidating the areas working with indoor technology
• Wireless WAN solutions remain a standalone business, reporting to Yossi Cohen, Head of Market Area Americas

Ericsson tied the change to expected demand growth: it said indoor and enterprise solutions offering a seamless user experience should become more important as high-performance mobile networks enable new use cases such as AI agents and differentiated connectivity. That is a vendor positioning claim rather than a measured market result, and it rests on demand that has yet to materialise at scale.

Åsa Tamsons, Head of Business Area Enterprise Wireless Solutions, will support the integration of the BEWS portfolio and then transition from her position on December 31, 2026. Narvinger called her "instrumental in creating new channels to Enterprises for our portfolio" and noted she has led multiple businesses since joining the Executive Team in 2018.

What do the Q3 numbers say about demand?

The quarter itself gives Ericsson reason to reorganise from a position of strength. The 7 per cent organic sales growth was primarily driven by Networks, and the revenue beat suggests operator spending on the vendor's core infrastructure remains firm.

Narvinger said: "We delivered strong third-quarter results, supported by focused execution, the strength of our portfolio, and the trust customers place in Ericsson."

He also pointed to a consistent theme from customer meetings during the quarter: the need for more intelligent and autonomous networks to improve performance, efficiency, robustness and resilience. "We are already seeing the efficiency gains from AI-enabled features in our portfolio being deployed in customer networks," he said.

The organisational changes take effect at the turn of the year, with Johansson's APAC appointment and the BEWS portfolio integration both completing on January 1, 2027, giving Ericsson a leaner executive bench and a consolidated Asian sales organisation entering the new year.