Nokia has won a share of China Unicom’s 5G core network order alongside with Huawei and ZTE, Reuters reported.

Ericsson and Samsung did not receive 5G network deal from China Unicom. Nokia said it has already won 70 5G commercial deals globally and 21 networks are live. Nokia was also keen to receive 5G network deals from China Mobile and China Telecom.

“We are the only foreign supplier in China Unicom for 5G core,” Rajeev Suri said. Rajeev Suri has recently resigned from the telecom network maker.

Nokia will have about 10 percent market share in 5G core and about 17 percent in virtualized IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems), which deliver real-time communication services.

China Unicom is planning an annual Capex of 35 billion yuan in 2020, primarily for the expansion of its 5G network. China Unicom had over 60,000 base stations for 5G. China Unicom has 318 million mobile phone users on its network. It is yet to achieve significant number of 5G customers.

China Unicom has reported slight declines in revenue to 290.51 billion yuan. China Unicom reported an increase of 22.1 percent year-on-year with 4.98 billion yuan in its net profit.

Nokia generated first quarter revenue of €308 million, registering 29 percent decrease, in its business from Greater China.
Finland-based Nokia said pursuing market share in China presents significant profitability challenges and the region has some unique market dynamics.

Nokia has generated revenue of €956 million, registering 2 percent drop, in its business in Asia Pacific region including India and Japan.