Ericsson (Ericy)

[Eric]

re: Vodafone Ireland 3G Contract

>> Ericsson Fails To Win 3G Contract

26/09/2002
Ireland Online

Ericsson has failed to win the contract to supply Vodafone with telecommunications equipment for its 3G services in Ireland.

On Monday Vodafone signed a letter of intent for the contract, said to be worth around €100m.

Ericsson supplied Vodafone with much of the equipment for its present mobile service in Ireland.

It is thought that the loss of the contract may have a serious impact on the company's Irish operations, based in Athlone.

Ericsson employs 1,500 people in Ireland and is one of the largest employers in the technology sector. <<

This is unconfirmed:

As noted by ElectricNews.net on Wednesday, the paper says that Ericsson Ireland was beaten out by Nokia for a multi-million euro contract for the rollout of part of Vodafone Ireland's 3G network - Ericsson Ireland has lost out on a contract to supply telecommunications equipment for Vodafone's roll-out of 3G services in Ireland. Rival company Nokia was awarded the contract earlier this week. Ericsson has reportedly described the failure to win the contract as a "serious setback" for the Irish operation.

- Eric -

[extelecom]

Ericsson's Customer mobilkom austria Announces 3G Service Launch
Wednesday September 25, 10:01 am ET


STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002--Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERICY - News) customer mobilkom austria, the leading mobile operator in Austria, today announced the launch of 3G service.
As one of the 3G network infrastructure suppliers to mobilkom austria, Ericsson is playing an essential role in assuring that UMTS services are implemented according to schedule and functionality requirements.

Ahead of schedule, mobilkom austria today announced the start of 3G service in major parts of Austria. Service was inaugurated with a live streaming video call between the cities of Vienna and Graz. Approximately 25 per cent of the country's geographic area, including most major urban districts, is covered in the initial 3G launch.

Content will initially be provided through a number of exclusive partnerships between mobilkom austria and for example the Austrian public broadcast station ORF, news agency Reuters and leading Austrian on-line sports media channel, sport1.at.

"Our successful cooperation with Ericsson has been an essential element allowing us to achieve our market objectives," said Boris Nemsic, CEO of mobilkom austria.

"mobilkom austria's 3G service launch today together with Ericsson is further evidence that, contrary to what the skeptics might say, 3G is happening; it is here today," said Anders Runevad, Vice President, Business Management and Sales at Ericsson's Systems unit.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press

About mobilkom austria

mobilkom austria was founded in 1996, and since then has remained Telekom Austria Group's most successful venture. In the first half of the year 2002, mobilkom austria group counted 4 million customers and 3518 employees -- bringing in revenue of 906,9 million EUR. First half of 2002 also saw a considerable EBITDA increase to 351,4 million EUR.

These numbers are due to our large number of high-value clients (business clients), who appreciate the innovative, high quality products offered by mobilkom austria, the leader in innovations and on the market.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
For Ericsson
Kathy Egan, 212/685-4030
[e-mail]
or
Investor Relations
Glenn Sapadin, 212/685-4030
[e-mail]




ET

[Eric]

re: New Mobile Phone, Products

>> Sony Ericsson Launches New Mobile Phone, Products

Stockholm
Reuters
24 Sep 2002

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB launched a range of new products on Tuesday including a T100 mobile phone designed to capture a slice of the lucrative and mass-volume youth market.

The latest product is an attempt by the loss-making joint venture -- struggling to compete in a stagnant market -- to fight back with a high-volume, low-priced mobile phone.

The company also announced a Bluetooth hands-free HBH-60 headset which can be used with all Bluetooth mobile phones and a stereo FM-radio hands-free HPR-20, through which consumers can listen to the radio and handle mobile calls.

Sony Ericsson, created last year from the handset units of Swedish telecoms equipment maker Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Japan's consumer electronics giant Sony Corp, said it would start shipping the T100 in the fourth quarter of 2002.

The phone features enhanced messaging capabilities, is light and small and will be competitively priced.

The other new products would be available during the fourth quarter, Sony Ericsson said in a statement.

Last week Sony Ericsson announced its flagship P800 camera-phone would only be on sale before Christmas rather than by the end of this month, declining to explain why.

The success of both the T100 and the P800 is seen as important for the joint venture to keep open funding lines for its parents. Both Sony and Ericsson are committed to invest 500 million euros each in the joint venture until October 2003.

Despite the success of its T68 and T68i color-screen mobile handsets, Sony Ericsson has been losing market share over the last 12 months, falling to 5.4 percent of global sales in the second quarter from a pro forma 7.7 percent a year earlier.

The handset maker's parent company Ericsson on Tuesday also announced the first live handover of calls between the GSM and WCDMA third-generation mobile telephony standards on Tuesday, using test units.

This meant that a person talking on a cellphone from a car would automatically have the call transferred from a 3G network covering only a city area to a GSM network when driving into the countryside.

"From the operator's point of view you can offer customers complete coverage from the very beginning, and you don't need to have full 3G coverage in a country," Ericsson spokesman Peter Olofsson said.

"It has been debated and questioned whether this can be done. We don't know what our competitors are doing, but as far as we know they haven't shown it yet."

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is the world's dominant second-generation wireless technology, currently used by most European operators.

WCDMA is a new standard which enables fast data rate transfers, particularly useful for data-heavy multimedia services such as picture and video messaging.

The 3G rollout has been plagued by delays in Europe with cash-strapped telecom operators choosing instead to focus on repairing their battered balance sheets after spending billions of euros on 3G licenses in 2000. <<

- Eric -

[extelecom]

Ericsson Announces First Handover Between GSM and WCDMA With High Data Rate in Live Networks - A Major Step for the 3G-Industry
Tuesday September 24, 10:04 am ET


STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2002--Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERICY - News) today announced the first live, dual mode WCDMA/GSM calls with seamless handover between the two modes.
The demonstration, which was performed for Telia and Hi3G (Hutchison Whampoa), also included high data rate in live WCDMA/GSM networks. The small-sized Sony Ericsson test units used are based on a commercial platform developed by Ericsson Mobile Platforms.

Allowing the user to seamlessly hand over calls between different networks is an important step in the 3G roll out. Handover makes it possible for incumbent operators to expand their 3G networks and offer consumers complete coverage right from the start by combining existing GSM network with the new WCDMA networks.

Ericsson demonstrated WCDMA/GSM end-to-end calls using small-sized handsets in live networks with high-speed data rates up to 384 kbit/s, which is equal to broadband.

The Sony Ericsson test units used are designed for interoperability tests with different networks and as proof of concept for customers using the 3G platform from Ericsson. The mobile platform solution is capable of full WCDMA and GSM/GPRS dual mode, including handover. It also supports a complete set of 3G applications and thus enables the development of small attractive 3G handsets. Power consumption and battery capacity of the handsets used is equal to today's GSM phones

"This is a key milestone for our 3G development. It is extremely important for our customers to try our platform integrated in a small-sized handset. Now we can offer mobile phone manufacturers a complete end-to-end-proven WCDMA/GSM dual mode platform," says Tord Wingren, President of Ericsson Mobile Platforms.

"Today's demonstration is an important step for launching our services for mobile moving pictures, which require high data rates. We are indeed confident in Ericsson's capability to deliver high quality solutions for 3G-services that our customers demand," says Chris Bannister CEO, Hi3G (Hutchison Whampoa).

Ericsson Mobile Platforms has during the last year constantly proven progress within 3G development by demonstrating WCDMA voice and high data rate calls in live networks. So far Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and LG Electronics have licensed Ericsson's technology for development of commercial 3G handsets.

"The dual-mode platform from Ericsson Mobile Platforms enables the manufacturers and operators to concentrate on application and service developments and launch products with a secure technical solution. I feel confident that we will launch commercial 3G products as planned," says Jan Wareby, Vice President Marketing of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communication through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Read more at www.ericsson.com/press




ET

[Eric]

Ericsson on 3G Profitability

>> Ericsson 3G Seen Profitable Only In 2004

Mats Falck
Olof Swahnberg
Stockholm
Reuters

Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson's third-generation network business will not be profitable until 2004 at the earliest because of operators' delays in rolling out the technology, analysts said on Wednesday.

Also Ericsson's sales next year of equipment for 3G -- an always-on, high-speed technology that enables mobile phones to send and receive multimedia messages -- will be much lower than previously expected, they said.

Of six analysts surveyed, five expect Ericsson to show an operating profit in 3G in 2004, while one said Ericsson would not be profitable in the technology until 2005.

In March analysts had said Telefon AB LM Ericsson, the world's biggest wireless networks maker, would show positive operating margins in 3G as early as 2003.

"I have lowered my forecast since then on the grounds that telecom operators' rollout plans have been further delayed," one analyst said. "Now I expect break-even at the end of 2003 and the first full year with positive operating profits will be 2004."

Their remarks follow comments by sector rivals Nokia, which on Tuesday said there was continuing weak demand for telecoms infrastructure, and Nortel, which two weeks ago lowered its third-quarter revenue forecast and announced another 7,000 job cuts.

During the dot.com and telecoms boom, 3G was seen as the next big money spinner for telecoms companies after they benefited from rising voice and data traffic. But the once high-flying wireless networks sector is now in dire straits.

Over-Investment

Operators have been slow to build new 3G networks after having overinvested in capacity and 3G licenses and run up debts, while consumers and businesses so far seem to have limited interest in 3G services outside Japan.

Ericsson said in June it expects 3G to take off in 2005, a year later than expected. Earlier this week a senior Ericsson executive was quoted in the Financial Times as saying the 3G market was overcrowded and that even the larger markets could only support four license holders.

Operations in 3G will continue in the short term to weigh down the loss-making company, industry analysts said.

Inge Heydorn at Alfred Berg forecast that Ericsson would incur a loss of about 7.0 billion Swedish crowns ($745.4 million) in 3G in 2003.

Heydorn said he saw Ericsson achieving positive operating profits of about four percent of sales in 2004 in its 3G operations.

The more negative forecasts are based on the decision by operators to delay or cancel the roll-out of 3G.

Orange Sweden, owned by France Telecom, applied recently for official permission to delay rollout of its 3G network by three years until the end of 2006, with less coverage of Sweden than originally agreed.

Among other setbacks was the closure by Finnish telecom operator Sonera and Spain's Telefonica in late July of their 3G operations in Germany.

Analysts have scaled back forecasts for Ericsson's 3G sales. They now predict sales in 2003 of about 15-30 billion crowns compared with 35-75 billion expected earlier this year. Sales will rise in 2004 to 25-60 billion crowns, they said.

Ericsson itself cut its expectations for the entire market for mobile systems in July to a fall of 15 percent in 2002, compared with the earlier expected decrease of more than 10 percent. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Kurt says "this" and Thorbjorn says "that"

Ericsson heading to infinity and beyond ... maybe

10/09/02
Martyn Warwick
TelecomTV

It is emblematic of the schizophrenic state of the global industry that two very senior members of one telecoms company can simultaneously issue apparently contradictory statements about the market and yet still both make sense. But that’s what has just happened with Ericsson. Yesterday, even as Kurt Hellstrom, the CEO, was forecasting ‘infinite demand’, his head of marketing and strategy, Thorbjorn Nilsson, was warning that the 3G market is overcrowded and is due for even more of a shake-out.

Interviewed on Swedish television, Kurt Hellstrom, Ericsson’s very own Buzz Lightyear, riding high on the success of his company’s recent 30 billion kronor rights issue, waxed lyrical on the subject of renewed market success. He said his belief that the global telecoms sector will return to growth on the back of "infinite demand" was reflected in the take up of the rights issue, which, in its turn, showed that the investment community agrees with his analysis and is backing its belief with hard cash. "There is almost infinite demand. Growth will return", he said, before adding the inevitable caveat that he cannot predict quite when the ‘inevitable’ turn-around may come.

Meanwhile and elsewhere in Stockholm, Thorbjorn Nilsson, Ericsson’s head of marketing and strategy, was opining that the world’s 3G market is thoroughly overcrowded and is due for even more of a shake-out that it is already experiencing.

It is Nilsson’s opinion that the world’s largest 3G markets cannot support more than a maximum of four licence holders. Thus the convulsions within the sector should not be taken as symptomatic of 3G’s terminal illness but a necessary precursor to its eventual recovery and a long life of rude health.

His argument is that debts (usually and at least partially caused by the pursuit and capture of licences themselves as well as the burgeoning costs of infrastructure development and deployment), mounting losses (caused by the dearth of handsets, delayed roll-out of services, consumer scepticism and the lack of so-called ‘killer’ 3G applications) and the increasingly apparent need for economies of scale will result in an inevitable and necessary industry consolidation.

If Nilsson’s analysis is correct and even the biggest markets will be able to support no more than a maximum of four competing players, then a lot of big names will soon disappear from the global 3G radar screen. For example, there are five licence holders in Canada, Holland, Italy, Taiwan and the UK, while tiny Austria and massive but under-populated Australia have six 3G licenses apiece.

Two years ago Germany too had six licensees. However, this number has dwindled since Telefonica of Spain and Sonera of Finland finally bit the bullet, wrote-off the massive investments they had made as irredeemable losses and quit the German 3G market completely. Furthermore, if Nilsson’s thesis is correct we’ll soon see another operator leave the German scene and, given the (lack of) relationship between MobilCom and France Telecom, Gerhard Schmid’s company could be the one to leave the stage sooner rather than later.

Nilsson says that 3G is a retail business and the history of the global retail market shows that it cannot support more than a few players – regardless of the geography and/or demography of individual markets. Nilsson believes that no operator will be able to survive with less than a 10% home market share and it certainly seems likely that the big incumbents and established 2G operators will be in a much stronger position than new entrants with no mobile track record and very obviously finite funding.

Nilsson also believes that 3G in Europe has been determined more by regulatory environments and disparity of governmental attitudes between individual European states than pure market economics. Thus he has it that consolidation will happen more quickly in the US than the EU.

He says, "In the US, new rules have been created to support consolidation. In Europe, it could take longer because a lot of national authorities have to support any changes. Regulators decided they wanted more competition without understanding the business consequences and there was a desire to maximise auction money. This has to be corrected and regulators have to help in the process."

Well, yes and no, Mr. Nilsson. European regulators certainly wanted competition, but so, allegedly did the operators. Just go back and read their press releases from the time immediately before, during and after the licensing processes took place.

With the benefit of hindsight it now seems obvious that the 3G market is overcrowded but all the bidders went into the auctions in the belief that winning a licence would be tantamount to being given state sanction to print money. Put simply, they gambled and the game is taking longer to play out than was expected. Nonetheless, the pot is still there on the table waiting for the player with the best and, and best poker face, to win it. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Rights Issue Success

>> 'Belt And Braces' Pays Off For Ericsson

06/09/02
Martyn Warwick
TelecomTV

Ericsson’s ‘belt and braces’ approach to its record 30 billion Swedish Kroner (3 billion euro) rights issue has paid off in trumps. The price of the shares, heavily discounted at 3.80 kroner each, was low enough to tempt the vast majority Ericsson’s existing shareholder base to exercise their right to buy, thus obviating the need to allocate new B shares to the consortium of banks underwriting the exercise.

Ericsson had been characteristically cautious in its approach to the new share issue. Concerned that a less than enthusiastic uptake would result in a further run on the company’s stock price, senior management decided on a strategy that combined a considerable discounting of the issue price against Ericsson’s current stock value with an agreement by the banks to underwrite the exercise against the eventuality that shares might not fully be taken up.

It worked at treat. Even preliminary results show that more than 99.5% of existing shareholders exercised their rights to buy the new trance of ‘B’ shares that were on offer. As a result the underwriters will have to do nothing more than sit back and collect the 1.5 billion euro in fees that Ericsson will have to pay them.

Poor old Ericsson. Even when it does brilliantly well, it seems it still can’t win. One might have thought, given their dismal track record and all the well-deserved bad press over recent months, that telecommunications analysts might take a considered view of the issue and take into account the reality of market conditions. No such luck. If a week’s a long time in politics, a short, wet and miserable European summer is several lifetimes to the gadflies of the industry.

Thus they are already voicing complaints about the fees and expenses that Ericsson has landed itself with as a result of going down the underwriting route. Has the company not been prudent enough to follow such a course of action and the rights issue had floundered, one can imagine the chorus of analyst disapproval that would now be in full bellow.

Furthermore, they are also opining that the 30 billion kronor that has been raised may not be enough to pay Ericsson’s way through its present troubles. Give me a break – and Ericsson too – and at least let the company try. The global industry is in the trough of the worst recession it has ever endured but things can and will get better.

Ericsson’s chairman, Michael Treschow, put his finger on it. He said, “The successful completion of the rights offering reflects the strong support of our shareholders and their belief in Ericsson and the telecom market. We believe that the telecom market is a long-term growth market and with the rights offering we now have the confidence and security of a strengthened financial position.”

The Swede’s are a canny bunch and know a bargain when they see one. This has been a good deal for the Ericsson, its shareholders and the market alike. It should be applauded as such. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Rights Issue Results OutFriday

>> Ericsson Says Rights Issue Results Out on Friday

Stockholm
September 5, 2002
Reuters

Loss-making Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb) said it will announce results of its $3.2 billion rights issue on Friday, which industry sources say has been heavily or even fully subscribed.

One source close to the underwriting told Reuters on Thursday the one-for-one rights issue at 3.80 crowns per share had met full success, while banking sources said there had been particularly strong demand from Swedish minority shareholders.

A spokesman for Ericsson said the group would hold a news conference hosted by Chairman Michael Treschow at 1 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) in Stockholm.

The outcome of the rights issue is scheduled to be announced in a statement at around 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), or before the Stockholm bourse trading starts at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT).

Investment bankers say minority shareholders have taken up the issue, despite heavy and consistent selling of Ericsson in recent months and comments by some analysts that the cash-strapped group will need another funds top-up in the new year. Ericsson stock was trading around 6.10 crowns on Thursday.

A successful rights issue means Ericsson, whose corporate debt has been cut to junk status by ratings agencies, will have enough cash to pay down debt and restructure amid heavily depressed market demand for its network products.

Ericsson's debt-laden customers continue to slash new orders and capital expenditure programmes.

Analysts say full subscription for the rights issue -- as distinct from the guarantee of the issue given by major shareholders and underwriters -- would give a strong psychological boost to the group which has been facing growing doubts about its future.

It would also mean underwriters Morgan Stanley, Enskilda Securities, Goldman Sachs, Handelsbanken, Schroders Salomon Smith Barney and SEB are not left with large amounts of unwanted shares on their hands.

The issue was earlier backed by the group's two biggest shareholders Investor AB (INVEb) and AB Industrivarden (INDUa) and major institutional shareholders, guaranteeing that Ericsson would get the financing it needs. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Ericsson & cdma2000

>> Ericsson: Look Before You Leap!

Ray Le Maistre
European Editor
Unstrung
09.02.02

http://www.unstrung.com

Ericsson AB 's increasingly cautious approach to its investments in particular business units could leave it floundering behind its major competitors, according to a wireless infrastructure analyst and close watcher of the Swedish firm, Richard Windsor at Nomura Holdings Inc. in London.

Windsor's comments follow the latest outburst from Ericsson CEO and president Kurt Hellstrom, who has stated that further investments in its joint handset venture with Sony Corp., and in its homegrown CDMA2000 equipment business, are under review. The Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications business will need to show growth in sales and market share in the coming quarters if Ericsson is to pump more money into the venture, says Hellstrom.

The joint owners of the mobile phone producer were looking for profit in the company's first year (it was formed in October 2001), but the venture lost 800 million Swedish Krona ($85 million) in the second quarter of this year and is not set to be profitable this year.

Both partners have agreed previously to invest up to (a key clause) €500 million ($492.5 million) in the venture before the company's second anniversary in October 2003, but Ericsson wants to review progress and see if lower priced models to be launched later this year can win market share, especially from soaraway handset market leader Nokia Corp.

While comments concerning such a high profile joint venture attracted much attention, equally as telling for Ericsson's future was Hellstrom's comment that a greater share of the CDMA equipment market was required if Ericsson was to continue selling such equipment.

As recently as July, Ericsson had reiterated its support for both the handset and CDMA lines of business. Six weeks is a long time in telecoms these days, it seems.

To quit the CDMA business (CDMA and CDMA2000 equipment) now could spell disaster for a management team that has hardly proved itself in recent times, according to Nomura's Windsor. "CDMA2000 has done better than anyone expected, and if Ericsson was to pull out just as the market for that equipment was picking up it could set the company back a long way," says Windsor. He believes Ericsson has about 5 percent of the market at present, while its current networking infrastructure strength lies in the market for wideband CDMA (WCDMA) kit, where it holds about 45 percent of the global business.

Windsor says Nomura has two scenarios for how much of the global next generation wireless infrastructure market CDMA2000 will account for – one scenario gives its 20 percent, the other a hefty 40 percent. It is that potential for growth, which would come from operators such as China Unicom Ltd. committing to a national CDMA2000 network, that could make any decision by Ericsson to exit the market questionable. Such rollout decisions still hang in the balance, however.

Any such decision could be made worse by increasing investments in CDMA systems by rivals such as Nokia and Lucent Technologies Inc. Windsor believes Nokia (currently holding 10 percent of the market) is about to ramp up its efforts in CDMA and could be unveiling a marketing offensive very soon. "We believe Nokia is planning a portfolio overhaul with a greater emphasis on CDMA2000." While the Finnish vendor has regarded this sector as relatively insignificant before, Windsor says Nokia now regards it as an "important market."

Windsor adds that only Ericsson's shareholding structure, which gives the holders of the 'A' shares such power (about 9 percent of the equity yields nearly 99 percent of the votes, as each 'A' share has 1,000 votes while a 'B' share has just one vote), is keeping the current management at the helm. That 9 percent consists of board-friendly institutions, believes the Nomura man. "If it was one share one vote at Ericsson this management team would have gone long ago. What the company needs is new blood at the helm, someone who can shake things up and introduce new ideas."

Don't expect a revolution in Stockholm anytime soon. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Forbes on Hellstrom and the Sony-Ericsson JV

>> Sony-Ericsson Venture In Jeopardy

Arik Hesseldahl
New York
Forbes
08.30.02

If you're a fan of Sony-Ericsson phones, you better buy one quick--they may not be around much longer.

Kurt Hellstrom, CEO of Sweden's beleaguered wireless concern Ericsson (nasdaq: ERICY), has thrown a temper tantrum, threatening to bail out of the company's joint venture with Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony (nyse: SNE) if sales of mobile phones don't start picking up soon.

There was a time when Ericsson, along with Finland's Nokia (nyse: NOK) and Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola (nyse: MOT), constituted the big three of wireless handsets. While the top two are still in their slots, Sony-Ericsson has plummeted to the bottom of what's now the big five, below South Korea's Samsung and Germany's Siemens (nyse: SI), according to research firm Instat/MDR.

Sony-Ericsson's constant mantra has been that it wants to be number one in the market for what it calls "multimedia phones." Loosely defined, that means high-end phones supporting some combination of wireless data as well as digital photos, video and gaming.

It recently raised a few eyebrows with a plan to hire models and actresses to push one of its phones in public places. Getting attention in bars and at tourist spots, the theory goes, would build up the street cred so crucial among a precious wireless demographic--young professionals in their late 20s and early 30s with a high gadget-lust quotient and cash to spend. Problem is, most of those people are out of work--or at least concerned that they will be soon--and have tightened their spending.

Ericsson is counting its pennies, too. Its losses so far this year have amounted to more than $770 million, and it slashed tens of thousands of jobs. It announced a plan to cut 20,000 jobs over two years in April--and that's on top of the 22,000 it cut in 2001.

Ericsson's American Depositary Receipts have been trading for less than a dollar since late July, and a delisting warning from Nasdaq can't be too far off. The prospect of having to pony up nearly half a billion dollars for a joint venture that doesn't seem to be getting any traction doesn't seem like a good idea.

But the partnership between Ericsson and Sony is young. The joint-venture company only did its first real product launch this year. It unveiled a slew of new phones--and many looked great. A new lineup is set to debut in the fall.

Analyst Neil Strother of Instat/MDR says part of the problem may lie in the agreements that wireless carriers have with other manufacturers, and that Hellstrom's statements aren't going to help the joint venture's chances for success.

"It takes time to build up the relationships with the carriers, and the carriers just can't cut and run on their other suppliers," he says. "After this, the carriers may see this as a signal that Sony-Ericsson may not be around for much longer, and decide to buy from someone else." <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Good Ericsson News (for a change)

>> Ericsson Strengthens Its Position As Infrastructure Player With New Contracts

Peter Mathers
Research Analyst
Asia-Pacific Team
EMC Cellular

http://www.e-searchwireless.com/Marketdata.nsf/popupdocs/518827A741459EE080256C240064DA05

Ericsson has recently confirmed its commitment to become a leading infrastructure player in the Chinese market with new and updated deals being agreed with China Mobile and China Unicom, plus further links with other Chinese companies.

On 6 August 2002, Ericsson announced that it had been awarded three contracts worth approximately USD 70 million from China Mobile for GSM network expansions in Liaoning, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. Under the contract Liaoning Mobile, Ericsson will provide both software and system equipment including its MSC, BSC, BTS and HLR for deployment in 14 cities of northeast China's Liaoning Province. In Dalian, Panjin and Liaoyang, Liaoning Mobile will replace existing GSM-1800 switch equipment with all Ericsson equipment. Switch capacity of Ericsson equipment in Liaoning now reaches 6.4 million lines.

On 29 August 2002, Ericsson also announced that it had been selected by China Mobile to provide its MMSC solution. China Mobile plans to set up its MMS service centres in four major cities, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and Wuhan. However, Ericsson has been awarded the contracts for Shanghai and Guangzhou only. The contract also includes implementation, integration and two years of system support services. China Mobile is currently trialing the MMS service in three cities and plans to roll out MMS to all provinces in October 2002.

In western China, where China Mobile and government officials are keen to increase investment, Ericsson plans to provide Gansu Mobile with BTS, BSC and HLR equipment for deployment in Lanzhou, Tianshui and Zhangye. After expansion, the network switch capacity in these three areas will increase to 1.33 million lines and wireless capacity to 1.26 million lines.

In the north and following on from Siemens and China Mobile's GPRS network expansion in Inner Mongolia, the province will get help from Ericsson to build new MSC's and BSC's, while expanding part of existing HLR and MSC's. An additional 188 base stations will be built and 145 base stations will be expanded. After expansion the network switch capacity will increase by 300,000 lines, bringing the total GSM network capacity in eastern Inner Mongolia to 1.64 million lines. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

Leap Exposure

>> Trouble Leaps at Ericsson

Timo Poropudas
Nordic Wireless Watch
August 29, 2002

Wireless telephone company Leap Wireless International Inc. today said it is seeking new sources of financing and a restructuring of its debt load and faces credit agreement violations and a possible delisting from Nasdaq. The Leap announcement was bad news for Ericsson. The world's largest telecom infrastructure vendor was quick to admit that it is one of Leap's main creditors with EUR 900 million in debts.

With Leap Wireless Ericsson is caught in the horns of a devil since its exposure is further expanded with an un-drawn commitment of EUR 2.8 billion. If Ericsson reneges on its commitment it loses a customer and risks losing its investment in Leap.

The Leap exposure represents approximately 4.2% of Ericsson's total outstanding exposure. The un-drawn commitments to Leap account for approximately 13.6% of all Ericsson un-drawn customer finance commitments as of June 30, 2002.

California-based Leap said it would likely be in violation of certain credit agreements as a result of shares it needs to issue to comply with an arbitration order. If it violates the agreements and gets no waivers, the lenders could cease funding new loans and declare existing loans due, it said.

Leap said it would issue 21 million new shares to MCG PCS Inc. as part of the purchase price of wireless licenses from MCG covering Buffalo and Syracuse, NY. The purchase price adjustment was ordered by an arbitrator.

It said it faces delisting from Nasdaq because it is unlikely to have time to seek shareholder consent before issuing the shares.

According to Ericsson the outcome of the process Leap publicly announced is uncertain. Ericsson intends to continue its close cooperation with Leap while protecting its outstanding exposure.

This is not the first sign of trouble at Leap. At the end March the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cricket Communications has amended its vendor financing agreements with Ericsson, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. The amendments delayed certain financial conditions set for the company. All three vendor financing agreements have been amended in substantively the same manner. <<

- Eric -

[Eric]

re: Divorce from Sony?

I would hate to see this.

So far as I am concerned the combo of handsets and infra is very imortant for an infa powerhouse.

>> Ericsson Ready To Hang Up On Sony

Reuters
August 30, 2002

Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson said on Friday it would pull out of handset-making and end its cooperation with Sony if their mobile phone joint venture does not deliver satisfactory results in the next two or three quarters.

"The message is clear. We will not make the same mistake again," Ase Lindskog told Reuters.

"We will not put any more capital into the joint venture if it does not show results. This means unless its products quickly catch on," she said.

She declined to specify what results Ericsson would consider acceptable.

A retreat from the now unprofitable handset production, which Ericsson confirmed was still part of its core business on Aug. 13, would mark a further shrinking of the once mighty company whose operations span from telecoms cables to defense systems.

Loss-making Ericsson, the world's biggest producer of mobile networks, is now struggling to return to profit sometime in 2003 amid sagging demand for its products. It recently said a rebound for weak markets was nowhere in sight. <<

- Eric -

[OldAIMGuy]

Maybe it's time for me to do some study on this one.

TV

[extelecom]

Tom, One has to wonder don't they?

ET

[OldAIMGuy]

Hi ET, For the "world's largest moble telecom equipment company" it sure doesn't seem to have much share value!

Best regards, Tom

[extelecom]

Tom, You managed to do on paper in a short while what it took me 10 years to accomplish (on a larger scale)....
Aim can't help a deep diver!
Congratulations!


<VBG>

ET


p.s. So far I am 5 out of 5 on my Telecoms
Ericy, NOK, LU, LWIN, QCOM.

They may turn around some day, I suppose I should consider adopting some kids so I will have some heirs of my own to leave the stock to....lol

[OldAIMGuy]

Hi ET, Here's the view of the sad ERICY story so far with a hypothetical account I created:



As you can see, this one exhausted its cash reserves some time ago. It's not been able to do the buying being requested because of lack of funds.

Best regards, Tom

[extelecom]

22 Aug 02 SWEDEN: ERICSSON SHARES JUMP BY 20% ON SHORT COVERING. (WSJE)
By Buster Kantrow.

STOCKHOLM - Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson's shares jumped 20% on what market participants said appeared to be short-sellers covering positions, despite an absence of market-moving news in the telecommunications sector.

Shares of Ericsson, the world's largest supplier of equipment for mobile-telephony networks, gained 1.15 Swedish kronor (0.125 euros) to 7 kronor. Earlier in the session, the shares had been up as much as 35%.

Brokers said the gain appeared to be chiefly the result of buying by short-sellers to cover their positions, or what is called a short squeeze. Short-sellers sell borrowed shares, intending to buy them back at a lower price and pocket the difference before returning shares to their original owners.

A broker with a major Swedish bank said Ericsson shareholders are now calling in their share loans because of the company's continuing rights issue. That is forcing short-sellers - who he said are likely having trouble borrowing new shares - to cover their positions by buying back shares.

Ericsson is selling nearly eight billion new shares at 3.80 kronor apiece to raise 30 billion kronor. Shareholders can buy one new share for every share they already own.

"Everybody wants to have the flexibility to act with their shares," the broker said. "They don't want to be locked out and not able to react."

A Stockholm-based analyst said one of Ericsson's largest owners had reportedly demanded all of its loaned shares back. The analyst declined to name the owner thought to be involved.

The broker with the Swedish bank said it would become more difficult to borrow shares as the end of the subscription period approaches. With fewer shares available, the price of borrowing will also go up, making short-selling "not as interesting," he said.

(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.).

WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE 22/08/2002


ET

[extelecom]

My Brokerage account is showing my ERICR rights today. I see they are up to $.20 today... Yipee... I confirmed that employees and former employees using Ericsson 401K who own Ericsson stock will have their rights sold and the money will be used to buy new shares... Something about some "ERISA" rules....

ET

[extelecom]

Yup, What to do with those valuable rights...<g> I see they are trading for about $.15. You can sell them and buy more stock with the proceeds, or convert them for about $.42 a share... As I understand it Employees and probably former employees holding Ericsson Stock in the Ericsson 401K will automatically have their rights sold for them and stock repurchased automatically..No choice..

ET

[Eric]

re: ERICY & the Rights Issue

>> Ericsson Shares Hit 9-Year Low: Concerns On Rights Issue Success Grow

Kevin Morrison
FT Investor
London
Aug. 16, 2002
9:56 AM ET

Ericsson shares hit a nine year low on Friday as investors became increasingly nervous about the financial position of the Swedish telecom equipment maker and the success of its SKr30bn ($3.26bn) rights issue.

Ericsson shares touched a low of SKr5 on Friday, a point not seen since February 1993 although the shares retraced some of their losses to trade at SKr5.20 or 5.5 per cent down. The fall came on top of Thursday's 6.8 per cent tumble.

The shares have slid more than 90 per cent since the start of the year, and now represent a fraction of the SKr230 level at which the Ericsson peaked in March 2000.

The price in Ericsson (ERICY) rights issue entitlements fell a further 16 per cent to SKr1.42 on their second trading day, extending the 23 per cent slide on the opening day of trade. The entitlements to the rights issue shares opened at SKr2.20 on Thursday.

Investors in the entitlements then have the right to take up their allocation to the rights issue, which is priced at SKr3.80 a share. Therefore a buyer of the rights issue entitlement would be paying the same price as the prevailing Ericsson shares.

Not Enough

The capital raising was an attempt by the world's leading supplier of wireless infrastructure to bolster its balance sheet, which has been hit by a dramatic slowdown in demand for mobile phone equipment and prompted a string of record breaking losses.

Richard Windsor, a telecoms equipment analyst at Nomura, said there are concerns that the rights issue will not be enough.

Mr Windsor said the SKr30bn capital raising could be easily consumed with about SKr22bn going to debt repayments, Skr 5bn going to the Sony-Ericsson handset joint venture, and another SKr 10bn could be consumed from writing off receivables.

"There is a strong prospect that none of this money will go into funding businesses with a positive return," Mr Windsor said.

Mr Windsor said Ericsson shares have also been hit by speculation that some investments banks have been shorting stock, a process of placing orders to sell the stock in the hope of buying it later at a lower price.

Buying In

Ericsson shares have fallen by almost two-thirds since it unveiled its rights issue price last month, and by more than 80 per cent since it first announced its rights issue at its first quarter results on April 22. Trading in the rights issue entitlements ends on September 3, with the results to be known on September 6.

Ericsson's two main owners - Investor, the holding company for the Wallenberg family, and Industrivärden, an investment company linked to bank Svenska Handelsbanken - have undertaken to subscribe for SKr8bn of the rights issue. They represent 7.4 per cent of the share capital and 66.7 of the votes in the company.

Other Swedish institutions, holding a combined 7 per cent of the shares, have pledged to subscribe for their rights worth some SKr2bn.

The remaining SKr20bn is underwritten by a consortium of banks, lead by Morgan Stanley, SEB, Goldman Sachs, Handelsbanken Securities and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. <<

- Eric -

[Blondie Girl]

Ericsson Says Rights Offer Enough to Weather Slump (Update2)
By Johanna Swedenborg, Dara Doyle and Linda Andersson

Stockholm, Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of wireless networks, said the 30 billion kronor ($3.2 billion) it's raising in a share sale will be enough to help it survive the current slump in demand for phone equipment.

``We'll get through this with the 30 billion,' said Chief Executive Officer Kurt Hellstroem at a press meeting. ``We haven't seen a turnaround yet, but this market will rebound.'

Ericsson is selling new shares to existing investors at 3.80 kronor -- a price last seen a decade ago -- to pay back debt and fund severance packages. It expects the market for mobile networks to fall by more than 15 percent this year as phone companies cut spending, hurting Ericsson and rivals such as Alcatel SA.

When the mobile-network market picks up, it will grow by between 10 percent to 15 percent a year, Hellstroem said.

Ericsson shares rose 0.5 krona, or 8.2 percent, to 6.6 kronor in Stockholm trading. They have plunged 84 percent this year.

``The management is betting that the industry will turn around over the next two to three years, and the money should be enough to see them through that,' said Tarkan Conger, who helps oversee $3.5 billion at Iceland's Kaupthing Bank hf and holds Ericsson shares. Still, ``the outlook is very gloomy right now.'

Customer Loans

Ericsson's credit rating was cut to junk level at Standard & Poor's this month and at Moody's Investors Service in July. The underwriters of the company's share sale, which include Morgan Stanley as well as the Wallenberg family, can back out if S&P lowers its rating to BB- or if Moody's reduces its rating to B1.

The rating cuts may force Ericsson to take back 6.1 billion kronor in customer credits sold to banks, the company said in its prospectus. It also said it may have to post collateral of as much as 30 percent of a 12.3 billion-krona limited-recourse facility.

Moody's has said it will look at orders and Ericsson's ability to reduce operating capital when deciding on further cuts before the share sale ends on Sept. 3.

Ericsson orders fell 35 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, while sales slid 31 percent to 38.5 billion kronor. Accounts receivable dropped 36 percent to 44.9 billion kronor. The Stockholm-based company, which had a second-quarter loss of 3.5 billion kronor, aims to return to profit at some point next year.

[extelecom]

Rights offering.... The final offering is at Ericy's web site:
http://www.ericsson.com/investors/roffering_1.shtml

I found this in the prospectus:
"Dilution
In order to capture the value of the rights being offered, the holder of such rights must either use
the rights to subscribe for new B shares no later than September 3, 2002 or sell the B share rights
no later than August 29, 2002. If you do not exercise or sell your rights, the value of your holdings
will be diluted. Based on an assumed share price of SEK 7.80 per B share (the closing price on
Stockholmsbörsen on August 7, 2002), and an implied ex-rights price of SEK 5.80 per B share, the
dilution would be approximately SEK 2.00 per B share or 34.5 percent."

From what I have gathered the Ericy 401K holders will automatically have their rights sold and converted into new shares, which from what I read above means no dilution..

Appears to me that brokerage holders can sell the rights for about $.20 or buy a new share for about "$.20" less than market price... assuming no large fluctuation in share price... I think I will have to do a little studying before I decide.....

ET

[extelecom]

DJ Sony, Ericsson Get OK To Launch Phone Handset JV In China

.

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Sony Ericsson, a mobile phone joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson SPA (ERICY) and Japan's Sony Corp. (SNE), announced Monday it had received government approval to begin operating in China.

As part of the joint venture operation, the company will begin selling two models of telephone hand sets in China bearing the Sony Ericsson brand name. The joint venture also plans to open a research and development center in Beijing, the companies said in a statement.

The new company, to be called Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (China) Co., will be headquartered in Beijing. Roger Eriksson has been appointed to head the new joint venture, the statement said.

China is set to become a major battleground for international telecommunications companies as they try to carve out a share of the world's largest mobile phone market.

Official figures show the number of mobile phone users in China increased by 4.8 million in June to reach a total of 176.2 million.

-By Andrew Batson, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588-5848; [e-mail] .

(END) DOW JONES NEWS 08-11-02

11:40 PM- - 11 40 PM EDT 08-11-02


ET

[extelecom]

Unfortunately the email address for Mr. Li was incorrect. I have sent my email to another address along with copies to the editor etc... I would be surprised if there was a response.

ET

[extelecom]

Saw this Street.Com article and just had to comment on the inaccuracies I believe are in it. I think it is a piece of senationalistic, journalistic trash. I sent an email (included) to the author, will be surprised if I get a response:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/kennethli/10036870.html

Kenneth,
Isn't it possible you are incorrect in your article about Ericsson. From my readings the rights offering is Fully underwritten by
external investors (i.e. It will all be bought). I believe the reason it is trading down the .30 is becuase of the dilution and subscription
value of the offering, not the sensational items you proposed.

From the rights offering:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020809/92118_1.html

"August 9 Ericsson's series A and series B shares will be traded
exclusive of the right to participate in the offering."

Isn't this saying the stock will be trading at the diluted rate?

This is straight from Ericsson:
http://www.ericsson.com/press/20020719-074124.html

"- The rights issue is fully underwritten by shareholders and a
consortium of banks"

This tells me that all the rights will be bought even if shareholders decide to not exercise their rights!

Thanks for your response in Advance, "ET"



ET

[Churak]

extelcom...I am severely overweighted...not lol...let's just hope we are still alive to see the recovery...

[extelecom]

Churak, LOL.... I am severely overweighted in Telecoms......
Some day they will quit beating it up so bad.....

ET

[Churak]

sorry bout that extelcom...I am stuck in NT which I thought was a bargoon @ 2.40 CAD...brutal market...look at the bright side...we can't lose any more on Sat & Sun...

[extelecom]

Bottom line is my stock just dropped around 30%.....

It is a heart breaker.....

Don't know if they can ever overcome this hole they are in...

ET

[Churak]

bottom line is 8 BILLION new shares...geezx..

[extelecom]

Ericsson Rights Offering Prospectus Approved
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2002--The Registration Statement on Form F-3, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US in connection with Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERICY - News) proposed rights offering has been declared effective by the SEC.

Further, Stockholmsborsen (the Stockholm exchange) today approved the international prospectus. Following the approval by Stockholmsborsen the international prospectus is intended to be registered with authorities in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Paris and Zurich and certain other jurisdictions.

The international prospectus will be made public on August 12 through advertisement in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The prospectus can be downloaded from: www.ericsson.com/investors/rightsoffering2002.shtml as from that date.

The rights offering will follow the earlier announced timetable as below:


August 9 Ericsson's series A and series B shares will be traded
exclusive of the right to participate in the offering.

August 13 Record date for participation in the rights offering,
i.e. shareholders and ADS holders registered as owners on
this day will obtain B share rights or ADS rights, as
applicable, to participate in the offering.

August 15 First day for subscription and payment for B shares and
ADSs. First day for trading in B share rights and ADS
rights.

August 27 Last day for trading in ADS rights, as well as the last
day for subscription and payment for ADSs.

August 29 Last day for trading in B share rights.

September 3 Last day for subscription and payment for B shares.

On or about Sep. 6 Announcement of preliminary rights offering
results.

Offering documentation will be sent to directly registered shareholders and ADS holders registered as owners as of the record date around the time of the start of the subscription period.

This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. No securities should be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration, and any offer of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from Ericsson, which will contain detailed information about Ericsson and it's management, and Ericsson's financial statements.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited, on behalf of the international underwriters, may, at any time up to the latest time for acceptance and payment in full of the share rights, engage in trading activity with a view to managing the risk of the rights issue. Such activity may include purchases and sales of securities of Ericsson and related or other securities or instruments (including the B shares, ADSs, share rights and ADS rights) and be effected on any securities market, over the counter market, stock exchange or otherwise, in accordance wit applicable law and regulation.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Ericsson
Investors:
Gary Pinkham
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail]
or
Media:
Mads Madsen
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail]




And consequently the stock just hit the .60's...


ET

[extelecom]

Sounds like evrybody hates Ericy, may be time to buy? <g>

ET

[Eric]

ET,

($1=9.600 Swedish Crown)

As someone who has respect for and faith in Ericsson (and has them on their watch list) I feel I should make some qualifying comments:

* The rights issue is very confusing (and diluting).

* Ericsson's reporting in Swedish Crown's is absolutely stupid when most European companies are doing Euros.

* There is (or never has been) nothing more boring than an Ericsson CC

>> Ericsson Hit by Price Target Cuts, Rights Angst

05 Aug 2002
Stockholm
Reuters

Telecom equipment group Ericsson plunged more than 17 percent on Monday as two investment banks cut their price targets after last week's debt rating downgrades.

Concerns over the group's imminent rights issue and over vendor financing added to the downward pressure.

Shares in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson closed down 17.2 percent at 7.7 crowns, a level last seen in April 1993.

Ericsson is under intense investor scrutiny in the run-up to a 30 billion crown ($3.1 billion) rights issue -- at 3.8 crowns a share -- designed to refinance the loss-making group.

The stock has fallen more than 70 percent since April 22, when the group said it was making the cash call, and has underperformed the DJ Stoxx technology index by more than 40 percent.

Credit Suisse First Boston cut its fair value estimate to seven crowns from 10 crowns, repeating its "sell" recommendation, and said downgrades of Ericsson debt to junk status triggered the move.

"The lower valuation primarily reflects our view that net debt will be higher than we previously forecasted: 19.6 billion crowns in 2003 versus 14 billion crowns before," CSFB said.

CSFB said that the rights issue by itself was not enough to protect the company's financial position and it may need fresh funds next year. With the debt downgrades those funds will cost more.

Moody's has said it may again cut the company's ratings, while S&P warned another rating cut was possible but said it would wait until after the rights offering, set for September.

Outlook Bleak

Deutsche Bank later said it had lowered its pre-rights target price on Ericsson to 7.2 crowns from 15 crowns and its ex-rights target to 5.5 crowns from 9.5 crowns, saying the shares were not likely to rise significantly in the short term.

Deutsche said that while the rights issue looked secure, further credit downgrades were likely and the business outlook remained bleak, leading it to cut its 2003 and 2004 infrastructure market growth assumptions to minus three percent and plus five percent respectively from plus five percent and plus 10 percent previously.

"While we believe that Ericsson's operating expenditure cuts are both credible and achievable, we are more skeptical about the overall market outlook for topline growth and gross margin development," Deutsche said in its research report.

Analysts have said there is an element of doubt over the viability of the rights issue. The issue has been fully underwritten by a consortium of banks and major investors including AB Industrivarden and Investor AB, but Ericsson has said the issue may still not go ahead if the ratings are cut further.

"For the commitments of the banks to cease we would have to drop another two notches in our credit rating, which is highly unlikely," Ericsson spokesman Mads Madsen told Reuters.

Analysts also said there were fresh concerns about Ericsson's involvement in partly financing the contracts of its customers -- vendor financing -- because the credit rating downgrades would lead to the need for more commitments.

"We believe Ericsson...may need to provide extra collateral and take back at least some vendor financing credits to a maximum of 10 billion crowns over the next 12 months," CSFB said. <<

- Eric -

[Blondie Girl]

ET

If this market doesn't start turning around soon, I can see companies taking their co. private. Paul Allen is considering taking CHTR private.

[extelecom]

BG, I have not seen anything from my Broker or 401k about the offering. I asked the 401K people and they are checking. I asked a friend that works at Ericy and he showed me an email they sent out. It sounded like the employees who own it in their 401K didn't have to do anything that the rights would be sold and credited to them? It made no sense at ALL! Like I said, Sometimes things get confused in translation from Swedish, or the Swenglish....
http://www.ericsson.com/press/20020719-074124.html
- Subscription and payment period runs from August 15 - September 3,
2002


ET

[Blondie Girl]

ET

No, I haven't bought more. I too thought it was a bargain at $1.45 and bought a boatload. (NG)
I don't understand how the offering works, as I understand it we would have to purchase shares b/4 Aug 8th ?

There was a person on "Forbes on Fox" this weekend, that was saying ERICY is a survivor and is a buy. YEAH RIGHT!!!!

[extelecom]

Blondie, No I hadn't seen it, but I am not surprised.
Sometimes some of these things don't come across right in translation. Did you buy in, or are you going to wait till after the rights offering? Lookes like it was headed over $1. last week till the markets headed lower again. I have no clue where Ericsson will go..... When it dropped from 20 to 14 I thought it was a bargain... I have been saying that all the way into the sub $1.00's...

Enjoy the day!

ET

[Blondie Girl]

ET
Have you seen this from last week?


Financial Times; Aug 02, 2002


Ericsson, the embattled telecom group, was attacked by the Swedish government yesterday for its controversial employee bonus scheme.

Marita Ulvskog, acting prime minister, said that when so many shareholders had lost so much money it was inappropriate for the company to devote its time to a bonus scheme.

"I do not think you should have a bonus scheme when a company is doing so badly," she said.

Last year, thousands of managers were awarded bonuses despite the fact the company made the largest loss in Swedish corporate history and cut around 22,000 jobs.

Ericsson said Ms Ulvskog appeared to have misunderstood the scheme. Nicholas George, Stockholm

[ChrisJP]

Hi Jane-a-rella !!

I hope you're having a great time in SoCal and Hawaii and where ever !

The weather in DC stinks and I'm working too hard. Oh yeah, the markets suck too, although they were kind today.

I had a chance to go on a business trip to San Diego (San Ysidro to be more precise), but I'm toooooo swamped here.

So I own MTON, EMC, RSAS, SCLD, TALK ... and (Yuk !) too much DVID.

We'll just have to see what happens.

WCOEQ -- to be delisted. The common shares are worthless -- so its amazing to me to see them trading -- let alone trading at .24. The fact that the NASDAQ lets it trade and run around is just a sign of what the NASDAQ is really all about.

Be Good !

Chris

My other online trading account is a mattress !

[ChrisJP]

Hi extelcom,

Ericsson's series A and series B shares will be traded exclusive of the right to participate in the offering."

This means that after August 9th, it you buy ERICY shares, you don't get to participate in the chance to buy the .41/shares.

ERICY has a 7B share float. It trades only 20M shares/day. At that rate, it would take 350 trading days to get rid of the .41/shares !!!

I'm still thinking about it, but I'll probably pass. Thanks for responding to my post. I appreciate it.

Chris




My other online trading account is a mattress !

[extelecom]

Chris, I found some more info. on Ericy website... It is a little clearer.. I am pretty sure I was wrong about trading od "rights". I think what they meant was trading them in for shres... It sounds to me that if you subscribe that as soon as your new shares get to your broker you will be able to trade them (sometime after Sep. 6). I still have no strategy of how you would play this. I am not sure what this statement means
"August 9
Ericsson's series A and series B shares will be traded exclusive of
the right to participate in the offering."
Possibly they will reduce stock price by offering price like a Dividend does?

Interesting

http://www.ericsson.com/press/20020719-074124.html

http://www.ericsson.com/investors/rightsoffering2002.shtml



ET

[girlfriend]

Hi Chris!

Jane

[extelecom]

Chris,
I haven't been paying all that much attention as I wanted to wait and read the final filing with the SEC. I have no opinion of how to play the offering. I do not know if you can sell the share as soon as you subscribe, or not. The wording in your link seems to imply that the "rights" themselves may be tradeable, but that may just be the way it sounds. I think I'll go look around and see what I can find out. I don't think the final filing with the SEC has been done yet.

ET

[ChrisJP]

Hi guys, Do any of you have a strategy for playing this .41/share dilution gambit ?

Do you know when is the last time to buy Ericsson to be eligible to buy the .41 shares ?

EDIT: Ooops, just saw this: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=422658

Can you sell the shares as soon as you buy them, or is there a waiting period ?

Thanks,
Chris

My other online trading account is a mattress !

[extelecom]

Ericy responds...
Ericsson Responds to Ba1 Rating by Moody's
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 26, 2002--Moody's Investor Services today announced that it has downgraded the long-term credit rating of Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERICY - News) from Baa3 to Ba1 and continues to review its rating for possible further downgrade pending completion of the rights offering.

The action does not affect the underwriting of the rights offering.

"This action by Moody's does not affect the underwriting agreement from the banks nor the commitment from our largest shareholders. We are fully committed to maintaining a very conservative financial profile and the underwritten rights offering is an important element of this strategy," says Michael Treschow, Chairman of the Board, Ericsson.

The terms agreed with the banks supports the underwriting even if the company's credit rating were to drop to BB by Standard & Poor's or Ba3 by Moody's. Ericsson believes such a scenario is unlikely. According to Moody's, their new rating will remain under review until the completion of the rights issue, whereupon Moody's expects to confirm the Ba1 ratings with a negative outlook.

Credit agencies have been systematically lowering their ratings for the communication equipment industry for some time. Ericsson views Moody's decision as related to their view of the industry in general and the company believes that it will not impact Ericsson's leadership position in the market.

The financial impact of this decision amounts to an increase in financing costs of approximately SEK 101 million annually.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.



ET

[extelecom]

Oops, I missed this, probably reason for decline:
9:41AM LM Ericsson cut to junk by Moody's (ERICY) 0.78 -0.22:


I also found this interesting:
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/020726/200207260729000278_1.html
Ericsson: Banks Have Escape Clause On Rights Issue


STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- The banks underwriting Telefon AB LM Ericsson's ( ERICY) SEK30 billion share issue can back out if credit agencies lower the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker's credit ratings several more notches, an Ericsson spokesman said Friday.

The banks' obligation to underwrite the issue ceases if Standard and Poor's lowers Ericsson's rating to BB-, or if Moody's lowers Ericsson's rating to B1, Ericsson spokesman Mads Madsen said.

"We don't expect that that can happen," Madsen said. "It's a number of steps from where we are today. We are not uneasy with those terms."

S&P cut Ericsson's long-term rating to BBB- on Monday and kept it on watch negative. S&P's move followed a decision by Moody's Investors Service last month to cut Ericsson to Baa3 and keep the rating on review for possible downgrade.

Moody's said it expected to confirm the rating at Baa3, albeit with a negative outlook, if the company completed its rights issue and renegotiated or replaced a $600 million revolving credit.

Ericsson said last week that it would issue nearly 8 billion new shares at SEK3.80 apiece to raise the money, which it will use to cover restructuring costs and strengthen its balance sheet. Subscription for the shares begins Aug. 15 .

An Ericsson spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires last week that the underwriting agreements weren't conditional on Ericsson's debt avoiding a downgrade to junk status.

Madsen said the full underwriting agreement would be included in the next amendment that Ericsson files to its F-3 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That filing is expected in the next several days, he said.

At 1105 GMT in Stockholm , Ericsson's shares, which have fallen sharply since terms of the rights issue were disclosed, were down 15% at SEK8.15.

Company Web site: http://www.ericsson.com




ET

[extelecom]

Blondie, I use Scottrade and they do not have an option of which 'Lot' I sell. <:(

Wow, $.86, I never thought we would see it. I think Eric's post probably says a lot about what is going on today.
Be careful if you buy some to trade, I don't see anything on the horizon to make it go up other than speculation or a possible buy out!

Have a good weekend

ET

[Blondie Girl]

Morning ET, Your right I do have to specify which lot I am selling from. I use E-trade.

What a nasty morning for ERICY! I wonder how long they can continue the dividend.