Nokia said mobile networks are stabilizing after a rough few quarters
CEO Pekka Lundmark noted that the vendor added 55 new private network customers in the quarter
Nokia now has 850 private network customers in total
Nokia appears to be over its annus horribilis with the radio access market stabilizing and the private network market growing well - even as Ericsson is trying to grab more of that sector. Dell'Oro Group, however, expects that the positions will probably remain the same in 2025.
The vendor has now largely exited its mobile network-led slump post reporting a $5.98 billion profit for the fourth quarter, up 9% year-on-year.
CEO Pekka Lundmark said on its earnings call this week that “mobile networks is now showing signs of stabilizing and ended the year with very good commercial momentum, winning around 18 thousand base station sites, on a net basis, since the start of 2024.”
AT&T swapping Nokia for Ericsson as its radio access network (RAN) partner in December 2023 totaled Nokia’s American mobile network sales through most of 2024. “Pleasingly, North American net sales [ in Q4] increased by double digits, while Indian sales stabilized,” noted Nokia CFO Marco Baren on the earnings call.
Lundmark said that Nokia had won 12 new RAN customers in 2024 however, mobile network sales still declined 2% in Q4.
Nokia’s private network power
Lundmark also noted that the Western private network leader added 55 new customers in Q4. This brings Nokia’s private network customer roster up to 850 overall.
Dell’Oro previously said that Huawei is the top private network provider in the world — largely because of its Chinese customer base — with Nokia being the leading Western provider followed by Ericsson and Samsung.
“We don’t have the full 4Q24/2024 picture yet for private wireless,” Stefan Pongratz, VP at Dell’Oro, told Fierce in an email. “Our assessment is that Huawei, Nokia, and Ericsson are the top 3 private wireless suppliers by revenue for the 1Q24-3Q24 period.
“We are not expecting any major regional or vertical shifts for the private 5G market this year - North America and APAC/China were the largest regions for the 1Q24-3Q24 period and these trends are expected to extend into 2025,” he continued.
Pongratz did note, however, that stronger adoption in the mid-market, for example, could change the barriers to entry for non-traditional RAN suppliers.