(Reuters) – Sweden’s Ericsson on Wednesday reported quarterly core earnings ahead of market estimates, as demand for 5G network equipment stayed strong even as the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc in its main markets, China and the United States.

The company’s first-quarter adjusted quarterly operating earnings fell to 4.6 billion Swedish crowns ($455.19 million)from a year earlier, but beat the mean forecast of 4.13 billion crowns, according to a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

Total revenue for the telecom equipment maker, a rival of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Finland’s Nokia, rose 2% to 49.8 billion crowns.