for people with the surname ericsson see ericsson surname . for other uses see ericsson disambiguation . this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . october 2016 telefonaktiebolaget l. m. ericsson ericsson s headquarters in kista stockholm . type publicly traded aktiebolag traded as nasdaq stockholm eric a nasdaq stockholm eric b nasdaq eric industry telecommunications equipment networking equipment founded stockholm sweden 1876 ; 140 years ago 1876 founder lars magnus ericsson headquarters kista stockholm sweden area served worldwide key people leif johansson chairman jan frykhammar chief executive officer products mobile and fixed broadband networks consultancy and managed services tv and multimedia technology revenue sek 246.9 billion 2015 1 operating income sek 21.8 billion 2015 1 profit sek 13.5 billion 2015 1 total assets sek 284.3 billion 2015 1 total equity sek 146.5 billion 2015 1 number of employees 115 300 2015 2 subsidiaries ericsson lg 75 % ericsson broadcast and media services website www.ericsson.com ericsson telefonaktiebolaget l. m. ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in stockholm sweden . the company offers services software and infrastructure in information and communications technology ict for telecommunications operators traditional telecommunications and internet protocol ip networking equipment mobile and fixed broadband operations and business support services cable television iptv video systems and an extensive services operation . ericsson had 35 % market share in the 2g 3g 4g mobile network infrastructure market in 2012 . 3 the company was founded in 1876 by lars magnus ericsson ; 4 as of 2016 update it is headquartered in stockholm sweden . the company employs around 110 000 people and operates in around 180 countries . citation needed ericsson holds over 37 000 granted patents as of may 2015 including many in wireless communications . citation needed contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 international expansion 1.3 automatic equipment 1.4 shareholding changes 1.5 wallenberg era begins 1.6 market development 1.7 further development 1.8 1995 2003 emergence of the internet 1.9 2003 2016 rebuilding and growing 1.10 acquisitions expansion consolidation and cooperation 2 corporate governance 3 research and development 4 products and services 4.1 business unit networks 4.2 business unit global services 4.3 business unit support solutions 4.3.1 systems integration 4.3.2 network services 4.3.3 broadcast services 4.4 business unit modems 5 divested businesses 5.1 mobile cell telephones 5.2 telephones 5.3 ericsson mobile platforms 5.4 ericsson enterprise 6 . mobi and mobile internet 7 see also 8 references 9 further reading 10 external links history edit foundation edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message lars magnus ericsson lars magnus ericsson began his association with telephones in his youth as an instrument maker . he worked for a firm that made telegraph equipment for the swedish government agency telegrafverket . in 1876 at the age of 30 he started a telegraph repair shop with help from his friend carl johan andersson in central stockholm and repaired foreign made telephones . in 1878 ericsson began making and selling his own telephone equipment . his telephones were not technically innovative . in 1878 he made an agreement to supply telephones and switchboards to sweden s first telecommunications operating company stockholms allm nna telefonaktiebolag . 4 also in 1878 local telephone importer numa peterson hired ericsson to adjust some telephones from the bell telephone company . he bought a number of siemens telephones and analyzed the technology ; ericsson had a scholarship at siemens a few years earlier . he was familiar with bell and siemens halske telephones through his firm s repair work for telegrafverket and swedish railways . he improved these designs to produce a higher quality instrument to be used by new telephone companies such as rikstelefon to provide cheaper service than the bell group . ericsson had no patent or royalty problems because bell had not patented their inventions in scandinavia . his training as an instrument maker was reflected in the standard of finish and the ornate design of ericsson telephones of this period . at the end of the year he started to manufacture telephones much like those of siemens ; the first product was finished in 1879 . ericsson became a major supplier of telephone equipment to scandinavia . its factory could not keep up with demand ; joinery and metal plating were contracted out . much of its raw materials were imported ; in the following decades ericsson bought into a number of firms to ensure supplies of brass wire ebonite and magnet steel . much of the walnut wood used for cabinets was imported from the united states . stockholm s telephone network expanded that year and the company reformed into a telephone manufacturer . when bell bought the biggest telephone network in stockholm it only allowed its own telephones to be used with it . ericsson s equipment was sold mainly to free telephone associations in the swedish countryside and in other nordic countries . the prices of bell equipment and services led henrik tore cedergren to form an independent telephone company called stockholms allm nna telefonaktiebolag in 1883 . as bell would not deliver equipment to competitors he formed a pact with ericsson to supply the equipment for his new telephone network . in 1918 the companies were merged into allm nna telefonaktiebolaget lm ericsson . in 1884 a multiple switchboard manual telephone exchange was mostly copied from a design by c. e. scribner at western electric . this was legal because the device was not patented in sweden although in the united states it had held patent 529421 since 1879 . a single switchboard could handle up to 10 000 lines . the following year lm ericsson and cedergren toured the united states visiting several telephone exchange stations to gather inspiration . citation needed they found u.s. switchboard designs were more advanced but ericsson telephones were equal to others . in 1884 a technician named anton av n at stockholms allm nna telefonaktiebolag combined the earpiece and the mouthpiece of a standard telephone into a handset . it was used by operators in the exchanges where operators needed to have one hand free when talking to customers . ericsson picked up this invention and incorporated it into ericsson products beginning with a telephone named the dachshund . international expansion edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message an early wooden ericsson telephone made by the ericsson telephone co. ltd. of nottingham england it is now in the collection of thinktank birmingham science museum . as production grew in the late 1890s and the swedish market seemed to be reaching saturation ericsson expanded into foreign markets through a number of agents . the uk and russia were early markets where factories were later established improve the chances of gaining local contracts and to augment the output of the swedish factory . in the uk the national telephone company was a major customer ; by 1897 the uk sold 28 % of its output there . the nordic countries were also ericsson customers ; they were encouraged by the growth of telephone services in sweden . 4 other countries and colonies were exposed to ericsson products through the influence of their parent countries . these included australia and new zealand which by the late 1890s were ericsson s largest non european markets . mass production techniques now firmly established ; telephones were losing some of their ornate finish and decoration . despite their successes elsewhere ericsson did not make significant sales into the united states . the bell group kellogg and automatic electric dominated the market . ericsson eventually sold its u.s. assets . sales in mexico led to inroads into south american countries . south africa and china were also generating significant sales . with his company now multinational lars ericsson stepped down from the company in 1901 . automatic equipment edit lm ericsson s former headquarters at telefonplan in stockholm see lm ericsson building ericsson ignored the growth of automatic telephony in the united states and concentrated on manual exchange designs . their first dial telephone was produced in 1921 although sales of the early automatic switching systems were slow until the equipment had proven itself on the world s markets . telephones of this period had a simpler design and finish and many of the early automatic desk telephones in ericsson s catalogues were magneto styles with a dial on the front and appropriate changes to the electronics . elaborate decals decorated the cases . 4 world war i the subsequent great depression and the loss of its russian assets after the revolution slowed the company s development and restricted its sales to countries such as australia . citation needed shareholding changes edit the acquisition of other telecommunications companies put pressure on ericsson s finances ; in 1925 karl fredric wincrantz took control of the company by acquiring most of the shares . wincrantz was partly funded by ivar kreuger an international financier . the company was renamed telefon ab lm ericsson . kreuger started showing interest in the company being a major owner of wincrantz holding companies . 4 in 1928 ericsson began issuing a and b shares ; an a share had 1000 votes against a b share . wincrantz controlled the company by having only a few a shares not a majority of the shares . the company raised more money by issuing a lot of b shares while maintaining the status quo of power distribution . citation needed in 1930 a second issue of b shares took place and kreuger gained majority control of the company with a mixture of a and b shares he bought with money lent by lm ericsson with security given in german state bonds . he then took a loan for his own company kreuger & toll from itt corporation administered by sosthenes behn giving parts of lm ericsson as security and used its assets and name in a series of international financial dealings . citation needed ericsson was now regarded by itt as a takeover target as its main international competitor . in 1931 itt acquired enough shares from kreuger to have a majority interest in ericsson . this news was not made public for some time because of a government imposed limit on foreign shareholdings in swedish companies so the shares were still listed in kreuger s name . citation needed kreuger in return gained shares in itt ; he stood to make a profit of 11 million clarification needed on the deal . citation needed when itt s behn wanted to cancel this deal in 1932 he discovered there was no money left in the company just a large claim on the same kreuger & toll that kreuger had himself lent money to . kreuger had effectively bought lm ericsson with its own money . citation needed kreuger had been using the company as security for loans ; despite his profits he unable to repay them . ericsson found they had invested in some doubtful share deals whose losses were deemed significant . itt examined the deal and found it had been misled about ericsson s value . citation needed itt asked kreuger to go to new york city for a conference but he did not attend . as word of kreuger s financial position spread the banking institutions pressured him to provide security for his loans . citation needed itt canceled the deal to buy ericsson shares . kreuger could not repay the 11 million and committed suicide in paris in 1932 . citation needed