- Ericsson stays put in Sweden despite prior talk of a possible U.S. headquarters move
- The vendor’s shift to Hagastaden signals a cooler stance toward North America after weaker regional sales
- New U.S.-Sweden tech cooperation isn’t enough to pull Ericsson across the Atlantic
Ericsson seems to be running a hot/cold relationship with the U.S., and right now, it’s on the cooler side.
In November 2024, Ericsson President and CEO Börje Ekholm told Bloomberg that its business in North America appeared to be growing and that relocating Ericsson’s headquarters from Sweden to the U.S. “could well happen.”
Ericsson won a lucrative $14 billion open RAN contract with AT&T in late 2023 and all three major U.S. mobile operators use Ericsson gear.
Then something shifted. Last month, Ericsson reported lower North American sales in Q1 and Ekholm said the Swedish vendor expects to be less dependent on the North American market going forward. That’s probably due in part to U.S. operators being quicker to deploy 5G standalone (SA) than some counterparts in Europe.
On Monday – Memorial Day in the U.S. – Ericsson announced it had signed leases to move its Stockholm-area headquarters from Kista to a district about six miles south, Hagastaden.
Ericsson has spent more than two decades in Kista, but apparently, Kista is not very nice these days while Hagastaden is flourishing.
“With a vibrant location in the heart of the city’s technology collaboration and innovation community – including easy access to our changing business ecosystem, partners and decision makers – Hagastaden is clearly best-placed to address our future operations. A thriving city campus will also strengthen our attraction for the top talent of the future,” Ekholm said in a May 25 statement.
Ericsson: then and now
Ekholm’s declarations in 2024 about potentially relocating to the U.S. came shortly after President Trump was elected to a second term and analysts questioned whether his words were a nod to the forthcoming Trump administration or a poke at European Union regulators, or both.
Ekholm, who has a home in Colorado, told Bloomberg at the time that relocating Ericsson headquarters from Sweden to the U.S. is “always a question that comes up,” while noting the vendor’s deep ties with Sweden.
Today, Kista – which was once touted as Sweden’s Silicon Valley – is better known for high crime and low occupancy rates, according to Bloomberg. So the move to Hagastaden would likely be safer for employees – and much more convenient than relocating to the United States.
Ericsson expects to begin the moving process in early 2028.
Sweden and U.S. sign cooperation pact
Just days before Ericsson announced the HQ move to Hagastaden, the company welcomed a new Technology Prosperity Deal (TPD) between Sweden and the U.S. that includes commitments to 5G, 6G, AI and advanced research.
The political agreement is only the fourth of its kind that the U.S. has committed to globally, following similar deals with Japan, South Korea and the UK.
During a May 22 press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio singled out Ericsson’s technology leadership as an example of how both countries could benefit under the new agreement.
“Ericsson is a very important company. It is one of the only companies in the world that can compete on 5G and 6G. It is very meaningful what we (Sweden and the U.S.) signed today, because I think it will give further impetus to what we’ve already done together in the past,” Rubio said.