150 years of history

150 years of reaching new horizons

Ericsson history

Welcome to a journey through the world of Ericsson – trip through history towards the future. These articles depict in photographs and film how the small factory opened by Lars Magnus Ericsson in 1876 successfully evolves into a global company.

Man adjusts IoT-enabled monitor in a field of crops

2024 - Internet of Things and more!

For long now, Ericsson has been dedicated to advancing 5G, enabling the Internet of Things. Presently, Ericsson is also engaged in the development of 6G, anticipating that it will deliver an “extended reality” experience, engaging all our senses.

Overview of rooftops in Stockholm in December 2009, when the world's first LTE service was rolled out.

2010: 4G arrives

In December 2009, Ericsson launched the world's first commercial 4G network in collaboration with TeliaSonera (previously Swedish PTT Televerket). The network was based on the new standard for mobile telecommunication systems: LTE, Long Term Evolution.

2001: Sony Ericsson is created

Since the start in 1876, Ericsson had been active in making both phones and networks. In October 2001, Ericsson’s cell phone division merged with the Japanese home electronics firm Sony and formed Sony Ericsson. The competition had become much tougher in the cell phone sector, and Ericsson could no longer rely solely on its own technical expertise.

Yngve Zetterström, Televerkets project manager for GSM, makes a call using an Orbitel phone to CEO Tony Hagström late in the afternoon of July 1, 1991.

1991: GSM changes everything

After NMT (1G) came GSM (2G), enabling even more widespread use of mobile telephony. On July 1, 1991, the new European GSM standard was introduced across many European countries, with GSM calls being made in Germany, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden over Ericsson systems.

AXE system, fibre optical systems with the transmission capacity 565 MB.

1976: the AXE-switch

The days of analog switches were coming to an end. New electronic and digital systems would replace them – and so Ericsson built the AXE switching system, as a joint venture with Swedish PTT Televerket. AXE was revolutionary in several ways, particularly through its advanced modular system architecture – and Ericsson would prosper with it for many decades to come.

1956: Mobile telephony awakens

Ericsson's very first mobile phone, designed in 1956, weighed like a young teenager at 40 kilos and was about the size of a suitcase. Perhaps not really “mobile”. And never destined to be a best-seller, since the network that was built to support it couldn’t handle more than 100 subscribers. (In 1987 that Ericsson would release its first real handheld mobile phone, the HotLine Pocket.)

A 500-point group selector for automatic systems

1923: the 500-switch

A phone switching system capable of handling 500 lines! The first Ericsson 500-switch station was put in operation in 1923. Eight years later, Ericsson had delivered about 100 stations with a total of more than 350,000 lines. Sales continued to increase over several decades. By 1974, when sales eventually started to decline, 4.8 million lines using the 500-switch were in operation in public telephone stations. Plus: read about the effects of the Krueger crash on Ericsson – and learn about the LM City!

1904: Global from the start (almost)

In 1904, Ericsson decided to apply for a telephone concession in Mexico. The Mexican authorities granted a license in the following year, and Ericsson were permitted to become an operator. This was only one of several early international investments for Ericsson. Already before Mexico, Ericsson had opened operations in many European countries.

Black/white image of Lars Magnus Ericsson's second workshop where he resided in 1876-1877.

1876: Lars Magnus Ericsson starts a mechanical workshop

In 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson started a small mechanical workshop in central Stockholm, which went on to become one of the world’s leading information and communication technology companies. In 1880, he launched the first wall-mounted telephone and delivered the first switchboard.