Ericsson dethroned Huawei in 2021 as the radio access network (RAN) market leader, displacing the Chinese juggernaut from its long-running command of the industry, according to Mobile Experts. The market research firm also claims Nokia’s share of the global RAN market surpassed Huawei last year, putting Huawei in the No. 3 position.

The global RAN vendor rankings differ significantly from widely cited Dell’Oro Group figures, but Joe Madden, chief analyst at Mobile Experts, said the analyst firm draws its conclusions and forecasting model with data from more than 100 sources. That data showed Ericsson closed 2021 with a 26.9% share of the RAN market, followed by Nokia at 21.9%, Huawei at 20.4%, ZTE at 14.5%, and Samsung at 8%.

While some of Ericsson’s market share gains can be explained by geopolitics, most of it should be attributed to the company’s products and performance, Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.

While Mobile Experts expects the RAN market to peak in 2023, Ekholm said he’s “more optimistic about the growth forecast for 5G as well as the longevity of the investment cycle.”

The Swedish vendor currently supplies equipment for 109 live 5G networks, and has 170 5G network contracts on its books, the Ericsson exec said.

“We think we're still relatively early in the 5G rollouts if you look at the globe. So, we will continue to see good demand for 5G going forward,” Ekholm said, according to a transcript.

“The characteristics of 5G are so different from any other mobile technology that, in reality, was only consumer centric. With 5G, we’re opening up one completely new field or new segment, being enterprises,” he added. “So I think we’re underestimating the growth potential in 5G rollout.”

Indeed, Ericsson has invested heavily in the enterprise market, including its recent $6.2 billion acquisition of Vonage, the largest ever for the company, and its $1.1 billion Cradlepoint acquisition in 2020.

Following those deals, Ericsson will invest further in a “global network platform that basically will allow communication service providers as well as ourselves to monetize the features of the 5G network, or the performance characteristics or APIs of the 5G network,” Ekholm said. 

The Vonage acquisition is expected to close by mid-year and the company will remain a standalone entity in Ericsson operating with limited integration, following the model it followed for Cradlepoint, he added. 

Ericsson previously said it expects the enterprise opportunity to be worth up to $25 billion by 2025.

The company’s Emerging Business and Other segment, which includes Cradlepoint, generated a 23% year-over-year jump in revenue to $232 million during Q4.

Ericsson’s Networks business unit reported a 3.5% year-over-year increase in revenue at $5.5 billion. Digital Services revenue grew 0.5% to $1.38 billion and Managed Services slid 8% to $578 million.

The company banked $1.1 billion in net income on $7.7 billion in revenue during the quarter, reflecting a 41% year-over-year jump in profit and a 2.5% increase in revenue.