Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has agreed to acquire Cradlepoint, the US-based market leader in Wireless Edge WAN 4G and 5G Enterprise solutions. The investment is key to Ericsson’s ongoing strategy of capturing market share in the rapidly expanding 5G Enterprise space. Cradlepoint complements Ericsson’s existing 5G Enterprise portfolio which includes Dedicated Networks and a global IoT platform.
(Ericsson PR, September 18)
Gareth Owen's key takeaways:
- A small acquisition for Ericsson, but in an area they have little presence – the US enterprise market; there is very little overlap here.
- Although Cradlepoint’s revenue does not add much to Ericsson’s top or bottom line, the wireless WAN edge market is growing fast and could become a very profitable acquisition.
- A key issue is how this could be perceived by core MNO customers if Ericsson is deemed to be competing with them.