On the 11th of December 2015, seven of the CITO representatives, along with five National Chiao Tung University GMBA students, visited Ericsson in Taipei. We met primarily with Håkan Cervell, the President of Ericsson Taiwan, who has been working for Ericsson since 1990 and in Taiwan since August 2014.
Mr. Cervell explained Ericsson’s vision of creating “a Networked Society” where every person and industry is able to reach their full potential through enabling communication between devices. For example, driverless cars need to be able to communicate with both the surrounding environment and other road users. In order to stay on top of innovation, Ericsson spends a relatively high percentage of its revenue (15%) on R&D, which is mostly conducted in Sweden and China. Mr. Cervell also explained that people today need four things: sleep, eat, drink and access to the Internet. Today, Ericsson tries to ensure the last-mentioned necessity.
Ericsson’s main costumers can be divided into five categories: telecom operators (80%), TV & media, public safety, transport and utilities. Mr. Cervell explained how they are working with their customers. For example, Ericsson worked with a vessel company to decrease its fuel consumption in order to transform the business and reach differentiation. This also helps Ericsson to reach one of its goals; to make the society more environmentally friendly.
The importance of the Taiwanese market for Ericsson can be derived from various factors. Taiwan has a strong convergence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape and strong government initiative for ICT growth. Also, the country often works as a good test base of the Chinese market. Finally, Taiwan has a mature and high-quality technology infrastructure that facilitates for Ericsson’s business in the region.