Ericsson warns of no telecoms upturn

NEWS Ericsson has warned that there is unlikely to be any upturn in the mobile phone market in the coming year. Despite industry hopes that the worst is behind us, the handset giant delivered its bleak prediction as its shares hit their lowest level since September 1996. According to the Financial Times, Ericsson CEO Kurt Hellstrom is to tell shareholders tomorrow that there is no improvement in the outlook for the telecoms sector and orders are still at the crippling levels of last year. Hellstrom told the FT that he doesn't expect the market to worsen, but the hoped-for upturn unlikely to materialise this year.