...S&P Global Ratings expects growth in the mobile radio access (RAN) market will slowly recover (0%-1%) this year and could gain momentum over 2020-2021, after contracting for three consecutive years up to midyear 2018, according to research firm Dell'Oro. We believe this trend will increasingly support Nokia's topline, but the near-term impact is uncertain since it depends on contract wins in a few countries with early-stage deployments. In addition, competition remains fierce in the RAN market--where Nokia holds the No. 3 position, according to Dell'Oro, after Huawei and Ericsson--and could intensify as operators enter the upcoming upgrade cycle. We therefore view Nokia's broad product portfolio, spanning mobile and fixed-line networks, and access and core networks, as positive because they can somewhat shield it from underperformance in certain subsegments. In total telecom equipment sales, Nokia is the...
