Ericsson has not seen any major impact on its business yet from the Covid-19 pandemic. CEO Boris Ekholm told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that the "top priority at the moment is the health and safety of our employees, customers, and other stakeholders. So far, we have not seen any material impact on our business, but we are closely following the developments in society."
Further, Ekholm highlighted the importance of communication in times of a crisis and that Ericsson works closely with its customers to make sure they can offer the best possible connectivity. For the first quarter, the company said it expects "limited to no impact" on its customers. For Q2, it expects to be able to cover forecast demand, taking into account measures to account for the pandemic and related restrictions.
In a further update on the impact of the crisis, Ericsson said all of its production sites were up and running. The Chinese site had been closed until 09 February per local government instructions, but reopened on 10 February. Its main production facilities are in Estonia, Poland, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and the US, and Ericsson said its global supply chain has been set up to ensure it can remain close to customers. Many of its employees already have the capability to work remotely and are taking advantage of this to work from home.
