Introduction 

IT hardware manufacturing in Sweden is concentrated mainly upon communications equipment and components.  Led by the telecommunications giant, Ericsson, hardware manufacturing is growing increasingly in Sweden. 

Market Niches

Telecommunications equipment is an important component of the Swedish gross domestic product.  In fact, the industry which has the largest proportion of national production is communications equipment, where radio communication equipment are responsible for 38% and telecommunications for 25% of the nations manufacturing production. Transportation and aeropsapce also make up a significant portion of production, with companies such as Saab and Volvo leading the way.   

Production

The actual production of electronics, measured in fixed prices, has more than tripled since 1975. From 1988 to 1993, the increase was 58%. (Source: Country Commercial Guide)

Manufacturing of electrical engineering products in companies with more than 10 employees, 1994

         
Import/Export 

Export of electronics products increased by 35% between 1993 and 1994. Again, the most important products for export are communications equipment, including telecommunications and radio communications equipment. 

Import of electronics products increased by 30% between 1993 and 1994. Computers and peripheral equipment have the largest share of import (33%).  Germany, the United States, Great Britain, Japan, China, Finland and Norway are the largest importers of Swedish electroincs products. (Source: Sweden Trade)

Global Leadership

Major efficiency gains in hardware manufacturing have characterized Sweden's contribution to the global IT hardware market.  Specifically, the most knowledge-intensive sectors, including IT and electrical manufacturing have experienced the greatest gains in productivity. Swedish increases in labor productivity for manufacturing have been among the largest in the industrialized countries. The productivity growth between 1989 and 1996 exceeded 30%, compared with 25% in Japan and 16% in the U.S. 

The Swedish market for electronic components is dominated by the telecommunications sector, in which Ericsson is by far the most significant enterprise. The most promising subsectors are semiconductors and connectors due to Ericsson's successes in the telecommunications market. 

Growth Areas

In the Swedish IT market, the segments that show most visible growth are personal computers, PC servers, and client-server solutions.  The personal computer market is growing due to a government program which gives subsidies to businesses to provide workers with PCs for domestic use.  (Source: IT Developments in Sweden)

During the first quarter of 1997, PC server sales increased 60%. The performance-conscious Swedish corporate customers are investing in multi-processor servers to support their LANs, Internet and Intranet, and in advanced client-server solutions to eliminate the millennial problems and to support the possible EMU conversion. 

Domestic production of personal computers and PC servers has also experienced a slight growth. The local manufacturers are relatively small, importing components for local assembly, keeping low marketing profile and selling the products with competitive prices, principally through mail-order. 

Weaknesses

Sweden is still heavily dependent upon the United States to develop chips, PCs, servers, and other peripheral equipment.  U.S. suppliers have a good and steady hold of the computer and peripherals market in Sweden and a strong reputation .  The largest imported product groups are personal computers, small and medium multi-processor servers, LANs, multimedia systems and high-end color printers. (Source: Sweden Trade)