T-Mobile, TikTok, Twitter, Meta scrap CES 2022 plans due to COVID-19
With COVID cases increasing, companies are withdrawing from attending CES in person.
Sarah Tew / CNET
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T-Mobile is calling back the CES 2022 plans due to covid-19 concerns, the company said Tuesday, with CEO Mike Sievert no longer planning to deliver a keynote presentation either in person or virtually, and the company plans to “significantly limit” its physical presence at the show. Meanwhile, Meta and Twitter said the same day that they had decided not to participate in person. And on Wednesday, TikTok followed, announcing that the social media company’s CES presence will now be a virtual experience. CES will take place during the first week of January, in Las Vegas.
T-Mobile said that “the vast majority” of the team would not go to Vegas, although the company will remain a sponsor.
“We prioritize the safety of our team and other participants with this decision,” the carrier said in a statement. “The entire T-Mobile team is looking forward to a personal CES 2023, which we hope includes a keynote on stage in front of a live audience.”
TikTok cited the increase in COVID cases in the US as the Omicron variant spreads. “In light of the increase in positive COVID-19 cases across the country,” a statement said, “TikTok has decided to host a virtual TikTok CES experience for our brands and partners.”
Amazon, Twitter, Meta and Pinterest have also dropped out of CES in person, while a spokesman for Nvidia said the company has been “cautious from the start” and is set to deliver a virtual address on January 4 at. 08.00 PT.
Referring to the health and safety of employees, a spokesman for Amazon said in a statement that “due to the rapidly changing situation and uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, we will no longer have an on-site presence at CES.” A spokesperson for Ring, the subsidiary for home security, gave an identical statement.
Twitter said in a statement that it holds “the safety and health of our people and our partners as our # 1 priority. With that in mind, due to the increase in COVID cases across the country over the past week, we have decided to cancel our personal presence at CES next month. “
Meta said they will continue to attend the event practically, but that “due to an abundance of care and concern for our employees, we will not attend CES personally due to the growing public health concerns associated with COVID-19.”
The decisions follow after the United States reached the grim milestone last week 800,000 deaths from covid-19, according to figures from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. With the emergence of highly contagious omicron variant – which is now dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States – cases are rapidly on the rise again.
The Consumer Technology Association said that it feels that with vaccination and masking requirements; availability of COVID-19 tests; and social distancing measures and lower attendance, the event can continue.
CES is scheduled to take place virtually and in person from January 5 to 8, 2022.
