By Dominic Chopping

STOCKHOLM--Ericsson said Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm decided to step down after more than nine years at the helm, and named company veteran Per Narvinger as his successor.

The Swedish telecommunications-equipment manufacturer said Tuesday that Narvinger, who currently heads the key networks business, will take over the top job on Oct. 1.

He joined Ericsson in 1997 and has held various senior leadership roles, including leading the company in Northern and Central Europe and heading the cloud software and services business before taking over the networks business early last year.

"He has deep technical knowledge of our industry as well as extensive commercial experience and has proved himself in several key leadership positions," Ericsson Chairman Jan Carlson said.

The leadership change comes as Ericsson grapples with a number of challenges. Demand for network equipment is expected to flatline this year, with macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties clouding the outlook for customer spending plans. At the same time costs are increasing, especially for components such as semiconductors, caused in part by surging artificial-intelligence demand.

Ericsson is betting that as the AI industry expands and adoption increases, network operators will need to spend on upgrading their infrastructure to handle the increased data loads.

Under Ekholm's leadership, the company is also looking to tap in to booming global military spending by increasing its investments in defense and mission-critical products such as communication and 5G-based sensing systems which can detect unconnected drones, among many other uses.

"This is a pivotal time in our industry," Per Narvinger said. "As AI continues to industrialize, this will increasingly require advanced connectivity solutions, an area where Ericsson is leading."

Borje Ekholm will step down on Sept. 30, but will serve as executive advisor to the new CEO until June 15 of next year, Ericsson said.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2026 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)

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