"Ericsson is informing its employees today on an adjustment of its activities which imply a reduction of about 400 jobs in Stockholm and around 50 jobs in Gothenburg within sales and administration," the company said in a statement.

The company said the cuts were necessary following a new structure put in place in 2010 and according to which "certain competences within sales and administration moved closer to clients."

Ericsson's head of human ressources in Sweden said it was "a very sad decision" to cut staff in Stockholm and Gothenburg but said the company has started a process to recruit some 250 engineers for activities in Sweden.

At around 1020 GMT, the company's stock was up 1.23 percent to 78.0 kronor (8.72 euros, 12.3 dollars) on a Stockholm stock exchange up 0.52 percent.

Ericsson's headquarters are in Stockholm and the company has some 17,848 employees in Sweden and 90,000 worldwide.

It is the market leader in mobile network equipment ahead of Finnish-German giant Nokia Siemens, French-based telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent and China's Huawei.