Ericsson formalised the appointment of Niklas Heuveldop as head of its North America business, filling a vacancy created when previous head Rima Qureshi left the company in May.

The Sweden-based infrastructure vendor confirmed Heuveldop (pictured) will add the North America post to his existing role as CSO and head of technology and emerging business, after being appointed acting head of the region following Qureshi’s departure.

Ericsson suggested Heuveldop will eventually relinquish his CSO and technology responsibilities, stating he remains in the role “until further notice”.

Key market
North America is a critical region for Ericsson as the company attempts to execute a turnaround strategy amid declining profit and revenue. Some 11,500 staff are based in 31 offices in the US and Canada, and Ericsson also established major research hubs in the Canadian city of Montreal.

The vendor generated sales of SEK12.5 billion ($1.5 billion) in North America during Q2, down 7 per cent year-on-year, but up 5 per cent sequentially. In its earnings statement, Ericsson noted IT and cloud sales declined year-on-year, while mobile broadband infrastructure sales were broadly stable. The company’s performance was also hit by amendments to a managed services contract.

Ericsson previously told Mobile World Live Heuveldop assumed responsibility for a key partnership with Cisco in April, potentially in a bid to ensure continuity after Qureshi’s departure. The former Ericsson executive had a leading role in guiding the partnership in her role as North American head and a previous stint as Ericsson CSO.

In a statement announcing his appointment, Heuveldop noted North America is an “incredibly exciting” market due to its scale and cutting-edge innovation.

“We have successfully established unique partnerships with our customers in North America, allowing us to jointly pioneer new technologies across one of the most competitive markets in the world,” he commented.

Heuveldop added Ericsson’s focus in the region will be on aiding customers’ digital transformation and deployment of technologies including 5G and IoT.