Ericsson Partners Microsoft Connected Vehicles Platform: Ericsson ERIC announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft MSFT to provide a comprehensive platform for scale-up of connected vehicles to the market. The Swedish firm is developing its Connected Vehicle Cloud together with Microsoft's Connected Vehicle Platform (MCVP).

MCVP enables auto companies to accelerate the delivery of secure, personalized, connected driving experiences. Includes hyper scaling, global availability, and regulatory compliance that comes with Microsoft Azure. In tapping into their distinct experience, Ericsson and Microsoft are intent on helping car makers expand their global connected vehicle solutions and provide a better driver and passenger experience.

The combined solution makes it easy for automakers to implement convenient vehicle services such as fleet management, over-the-air software updates and properly-connected security services while minimizing costs. Notably, Ericsson's cloud of connected vehicles connects more than 4 million vehicles in 180 countries, accounting for almost 10% of the global connected car market. The platform has been modified to meet the growing demand for scalability and flexibility for car makers along with connected vehicle service.

Ericsson Partners Microsoft Connected Vehicles Platform

Ericsson's latest Mobility Report, released in November, forecasts 5G global subscriptions to exceed $ 2.6 billion in the next six years, thanks to sustained momentum and a rapidly evolving ecosystem. The report states that 5G will cover up to 65% of the world's population by the end of 2025 and will handle 45% of the world's mobile data traffic. The average monthly smartphone data traffic is expected to increase from the current figure of 7.2 GB to 24 GB by 2025, supported by consumer behavior as a virtual reality stream.

Ericsson has more than 75 5G commercial agreements with communication service providers, of which 23 are live networks. An estimated 13 million 5G subscriptions are expected by the end of 2019. Network deployments are likely to increase by 2020, laying the groundwork for the mass adoption of 5G subscriptions.

In addition, growth in 5G subscription is expected to be significantly faster than in LTE. North America is likely to adopt faster, with 74% of 5G mobile subscriptions projected by 2025. Northeast Asia is projected to continue to 56%, with Europe with 55%.

In the Networking business (which accounts for most of total sales), Ericsson's ongoing activities include investing in R&D to safeguard a leading product portfolio and cost leadership; increase investments in automation and service capacity while reducing costs; and selectively gain market shares based on technology and cost competitiveness.

In October, the company completed its acquisition of Kathrein's Antenna and Filter Business, to expand its portfolio of radio systems with new products and capabilities. Ericsson continues to execute its strategy and is on track to reach its financial goals by 2020. It has been working with carriers to help modernize its network, while optimizing many opportunities.

Ericsson shares have gained 6.4% compared to the industry growth of 5% in the last three months. Zacks Consensus Estimate For This Year's Earnings has been revised up 25.7% over the past 90 days.

Ericsson currently has a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) and a VGM Score of B.

Some other best-rated stocks in the industry are Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and Ubiquiti Inc. UI, each with a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the full list of stocks in the Zacks rankings n. ° 1 here.

Qualcomm expects long-term earnings growth of 14%.

Ubiquiti has long-term earnings growth expectation of 9.4%.

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