Felix Henriksson

Felix Henriksson asked about significant contract cliffs in IPR for 2026, specifically regarding an expiring contract with a Chinese smartphone vendor, and the company's conviction in growing the SEK 13 billion annual IPR run rate.

Answer

Lars Sandström, SVP and CFO, stated that the expiring contract is not a major impact, as renewals target the best economic outcome. He expects potential upsides from ongoing settlement negotiations with another licensee and underlying opportunities in IoT and automotive, supporting growth beyond the SEK 13 billion annual run rate.

Felix Henriksson of Nordea Markets asked about Ericsson's confidence in gaining market share, referencing a past Capital Markets Day target, and which regions present the best opportunities for growth.

Answer

CEO Börje Ekholm candidly stated that the expected opportunity from replacing high-risk vendors in Europe has not materialized. Instead, Ericsson is focusing its investment and efforts on strengthening its position in key markets like the U.S., India, and Japan, citing the new R&D center in Japan as an example of this focused strategy.

Felix Henriksson asked about competitive trends outside the U.S. and whether the negative organic growth in regions beyond the Americas was driven by broad demand weakness or a tougher competitive environment.

Answer

CEO Börje Ekholm responded that increased competition from Chinese vendors is not a new development and has been a consistent factor for several quarters. He attributed the performance primarily to a slower market outside of North America. He characterized the market share situation as having some footprint gains and losses that are currently more or less evening out.

Felix Henriksson of Nordea asked for color on OpEx development into Q4 and whether H2 would be stable versus H1. He also requested quantification of the one-time benefits to Q3 gross margin from the IPR deal and a customer settlement.

Answer

CFO Lars Sandstrom confirmed the outlook for H2 OpEx remains similar to H1, possibly slightly higher due to bonus provisions. He quantified the combined positive impact from the retroactive IPR revenue and the customer settlement on the Q3 gross margin as being 'around a percentage point'.

Felix Henriksson from Nordea asked about the game plan for Vonage, questioning the timeline for achieving profitable growth following the recent write-down, negative organic growth, and ongoing losses.

Answer

CFO Lars Sandstrom stated there is no specific timeline but that the company is focused on returning the business to profitable growth. CEO Börje Ekholm stressed that the primary strategic goal remains building the new market for Network APIs, which was the core rationale for the acquisition. He acknowledged the existing business must be managed better but the main focus is on this long-term platform opportunity.

Felix Henriksson from Nordea Markets asked if the weaker business mix expected in Q3 was confined to Mobile Networks and inquired about the expected step-down in OpEx for Nokia Technologies in the second half of the year.

Answer

CFO Marco Wirén confirmed the Q3 margin impact is primarily due to a less favorable product mix in Mobile Networks, with less software revenue expected compared to Q2. President & CEO Justin Hotard clarified for Nokia Technologies that OpEx is expected to be flat, with the full-year profit guidance supported by optimism for revenue performance in the second half.

Felix Henriksson of Nordea Markets asked about the drivers of the weaker business mix expected in Q3 and questioned the assumptions behind the Nokia Technologies EBIT guidance, which implies lower OpEx in the second half.

Answer

CFO Marco Wirén explained the Q3 margin outlook reflects a less favorable product mix in Mobile Networks, specifically less software revenue compared to Q2. President & CEO Justin Hotard clarified for Nokia Technologies that OpEx is expected to be flat, with the EBIT guidance reflecting optimism on second-half revenue.

Felix Henriksson asked if Nokia witnessed any demand pull-forward from U.S. customers in Q1 ahead of tariffs and if there was any observed hesitancy in hyperscaler spending.

Answer

President and CEO Justin Hotard stated there was no material demand pull-forward in Q1 related to tariffs. Regarding hyperscalers, he noted that strong order growth and a book-to-bill above 1 in Optical Networks indicate continued investment. He explained that leasing pauses don't always mean CapEx changes and that short-term digestion periods are normal during technology transitions, like the current one in GPUs.

Felix Henriksson asked about the scenarios behind the wide full-year EBIT guidance range and questioned the outlook for the U.S. BEAD program under a potential new presidential administration.

Answer

CFO Marco Wiren explained that the guidance range reflects current market understanding, with market development being a key variable. CEO Pekka Lundmark expressed confidence in the BEAD program's continuation, noting its link to U.S. manufacturing—a priority for the new administration—and highlighted that Nokia has already begun manufacturing in Wisconsin to meet program requirements and has started receiving orders.

Felix Henriksson asked about the drivers of the fierce competition in Finland, where all operators saw negative net adds, and inquired about the subscriber base size of Telenor's fighter brand, Moi.

Answer

Executive Frank Maaø explained the negative net adds were driven by mobile broadband cancellations due to fixed fiber rollouts, while the smartphone market remains stable. He stated that Telenor does not disclose the subscriber numbers for its Moi brand. CEO Benedicte Fasmer added that despite the competition, the Finnish unit delivered strong 9% growth.

Felix Henriksson asked about the drivers of Nordic service revenue growth in 2025, seeking to understand the pockets of strength and weakness by geography and the balance between ARPU growth and subscriber additions.

Answer

CEO Benedicte Fasmer highlighted strong performance in Denmark and Finland, and good development in Norway, driven by the 'more-for-more' strategy of bundling value-added services like security. CFO Torbjorn Wist confirmed this strategy has a positive effect on ARPU and will be a continued focus.

Felix Henriksson revisited the topic of bringing partners into Telenor's tower business, an ambition stated at a past Capital Markets Day, asking for current thinking on the project. He also asked for the drivers behind the positive mobile subscriber net adds in Norway.

Answer

CEO Sigve Brekke confirmed that the company is still actively considering a partnership for its tower infrastructure, noting they are in the middle of strategic and financial considerations and will make an announcement once a decision is reached. Regarding Norwegian subscriber growth, he attributed the success to a clear market differentiation on network quality and security, which allows the company to successfully monetize its 'more-for-more' concept and win valuable postpaid and B2B customers.