Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) [1] has officially pulled out of #MWC2020 citing safety concerns with the #coronavirus.
The statement was similar to that of LG when they announced their withdrawal a few days ago [2], it stated that Ericsson’s responsibility for the health and safety of employees, customers and other stakeholders is the company’s top priority and went onto say “Due to the outbreak of the novel corona virus Ericsson has taken the decision to withdraw from the industry event GSMA Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2020 as the health and safety of employees and customers cannot be ensured”.
The press release said that “GSMA have done everything they can to control the risk. However, as one of the largest exhibitors, Ericsson has thousands of visitors in its hall each day and even if the risk is low, the company cannot guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors”.
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, was quoted as saying “The health and safety of our employees, customers and other stakeholders are our highest priority. This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We were looking forward to showcasing our latest innovations at MWC in Barcelona. It is very unfortunate, but we strongly believe the most responsible business decision is to withdraw our participation from this year’s event”.
Last week we wrote ‘Industry Events Under Threat From #CoronaVirus‘ pointing out that the organisers GSMA needed to take the virus issue seriously or suffer the consequences. In that article we wrote “As the #coronavirus situation worsens, we would be very surprised if the Spanish or Catalan authorities allow this event to go ahead in its current form. The organisers GSMA … issued a wishy-washy everything will be okay press release which addressed none of the concerns of those who will attend”. I wonder if they, GSMA have learned their lesson in what they could have done better?