Ericsson will fold two Asian market areas into a single Asia-Pacific region and dismantle its Enterprise Wireless Solutions business, with all changes taking effect on 1 January 2027.

The restructuring, announced by new President and CEO Per Narvinger, merges North East Asia with South East Asia, Oceania and India into one APAC market area. Patrick Johansson, currently head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), will run the combined region. Ericsson has started searching for his successor in EMEA.

The stated goal is cost reduction and faster decision-making. What Ericsson has not said is how much the leaner executive team is expected to save, or whether the merger of the two Asian organizations will involve headcount reductions beyond the three senior departures already confirmed.

Who leaves, and when?

Two market-area leaders will exit. Chafic Nassif, who heads North East Asia, and Andres Vicente, who oversees South East Asia, Oceania and India, will support the merger and hand over their responsibilities on 31 December 2026 — one day before the new structure goes live. Åsa Tamsons, head of Enterprise Wireless Solutions, will also help manage the transition before leaving her role at the end of December 2026.

That timing gives the company a full year to reorganize, but it also leaves three major business lines under departing leadership during that window — a period in which Ericsson will need to defend market share in Asia against Chinese rivals and monetize enterprise 5G demand that has so far underdelivered across the industry.

Narvinger framed the changes as a matter of balance rather than retreat. He said: "With the changes announced, the executive team will be leaner and more balanced in terms of responsibilities, which will enable greater customer focus and the ability to act fast in a dynamic environment."

He also defended the regional logic: "The creation of the APAC market area will also enable us to operate more effectively whilst staying close to customers at country level. Asia-Pacific is home to many important customers, and this change will help us strengthen our focus and execution in order to serve our customers even better."

What happens to Enterprise Wireless Solutions?

The unit does not survive in its current form. Its products and services will be redistributed across the company:

• Neutral Host solutions and Ericsson Private 5G operations move into Business Area Networks, placing private-network gear alongside the core radio portfolio.
• Wireless WAN will remain a separate business but will report to Yossi Cohen, head of Ericsson's Americas operations.

The move effectively reverses the stand-alone enterprise wireless structure Ericsson built in recent years — a business that carries the Vonage-adjacent ambition of selling connectivity directly to enterprises rather than only to communications service providers. The company is betting that private 5G sells better when bundled with its mainstream networks portfolio than as a separate line.

Narvinger acknowledged as much: "We are strengthening our focus on seamless connectivity and want to make sure that we can offer a rich portfolio that leverages the full R&D competence in the company and meets both CSP and Enterprise demand."

On Tamsons, who has served on the executive team since 2018, he was unequivocal: "Åsa has been instrumental in creating new channels to Enterprises for our portfolio, which now enables us to take the next step in developing our indoor and Enterprise business. She has also been an important change leader in the company... I am grateful for her many contributions."

The open questions

Johansson's move is the clearest signal in the announcement. Ericsson is placing one of its most senior operators, with a track record of customer-relationship growth in EMEA, over a region that includes China, Japan, India and Australia — markets where vendor competition and geopolitical pressure on network sourcing are most acute.

Whether the consolidation sharpens execution or simply stretches one executive across a wider geography will become visible only after the 1 January 2027 handover, when Ericsson reports its first results under the new structure.