Ericsson has reported a two percent increase in sales for the fourth quarter of last year, with the vendor also noting that its North American business saw a 54 percent growth.

The vendor posted sales of SEK 72.9 billion ($6.6bn) up from SEK 71.9bn ($6.57bn) the year before.

The company said that its Europe and Latin America markets also saw growth for the quarter, however, other markets "declined significantly," including India.

Ericsson further highlighted growth in its network business, which saw its adjusted gross income increase to SEK 33.7bn ($3bn) from SEK 29.6bn ($2.7bn).

Despite a strong final quarter, Ericsson's overall sales declined five percent for the year, which it attributed to a six percent decrease in network sales. Overall for the year, Ericsson reported sales of SEK 247.9bn ($22.6bn), down from SEK 263.4bn ($24bn) the year before.

“Q4 marks a strong end to 2024 for Ericsson," said Börje Ekholm, president and CEO. "We progressed well against our strategic plan and generated strong free cash flow. Momentum around programmable networks for differentiated performance continued to build, and customers increasingly recognize the benefits of making mobile networks accessible through APIs."

Ekholm added that the company is seeing signs the overall RAN is stabilizing, while strong growth in North America coincided with a return to networks sales growth for the quarter.

"Progress on operational excellence continued, with commercial discipline and supply chain efficiency actions supporting a strong adjusted Group gross margin of 46.3 percent in the quarter. We are not yet at our long-term EBITA goal, but we are progressing towards it, supported by our strategic actions."

The company reported similar North American growth in the third quarter, after a couple of tough years due to weaker demand for RAN products in the market.

Ericsson signed a lucrative five-year contract worth $14 billion to build AT&T's Open RAN network in the US back in 2023.