Ericsson will record a non-cash impairment charge of SEK 11.4 billion (approximately USD 1.1 billion) in the second quarter of 2024, due to lower anticipated market growth rates in Vonage’s current portfolio. This charge will impact the net income after tax by SEK 11.4 billion (USD 1.1 billion) and will be reported in the Enterprise segment.
Niklas Heuveldop, Head of Business Area Global Communications Platform and CEO of Vonage says: “Given deterioration in the market environment and elective decisions we have made to refocus our investments in strategically prioritized areas, we have reassessed certain growth assumptions, resulting in a non-cash impairment of SEK 11.4 billion.”
Niklas Heuveldop adds: “We continue to advance our strategy to build a Global Network Platform for network APIs, which was the strategic impetus for the Vonage acquisition. We recently announced additional partnerships with leading mobile network operators and we see continued positive momentum across the industry. Through this strategy, we are making advanced 5G network capabilities available to the world’s developer community to accelerate the innovation of value-added applications for industry and society. This will open up new revenue streams for our operator customers and spur growth in the telecom industry.”
- In October 2023, Ericsson announced a non-cash impairment charge of SEK 32 billion for Q3 2023 representing 50% of the total amount of goodwill and other intangible assets from its acquisition of Vonage. The company cited a significant drop in the market capitalization of Vonage’s publicly traded peers, increased interest rates and overall slowdown in Vonage’s core markets as reasons for the charge. Ericsson continues to advance its enterprise strategy, with Vonage’s network API capabilities being central to this strategy and the development of a Global Network Platform (GNP).
- In July 2022, Ericsson completed its $6 billion acquisition of Vonage Holdings Corp. The deal provided Ericsson with a platform for offering a full suite of communications solutions including, Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), UCaaS and CCaaS. Ath the time, Ericsson said it aims to transform the way advanced 5G network capabilities are exposed, consumed and paid for. This will provide the global developer community, including Vonage’s more than one million registered developers, with easy access to 4G and 5G network capabilities via open Application Program Interfaces (APIs).
