The growing threat of Coronavirus is having quite an effect on various industries and businesses. The latest one to face the consequences is the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2020, also known as MWC Barcelona, which is scheduled to be held from February 24 to 27. Days ahead of the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, a number of tech companies have announced that they will not be a part of the show. Some of the big names include the likes of Nvidia, Sony, Amazon, LG and others.
Meanwhile, a few other companies like Nokia and Oppo are taking precautionary measures. Here is a complete list of tech giants that have withdrawn from MWC Barcelona so far:
1. Ericsson: One of the first companies to pull out of the exhibition was Ericsson, which announced its statement last week. In its press release, Ericsson President and CEO Börje Ekholm said, “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”.
2. LG: The famous tech giant also withdrew its name from the list of exhibitors at WMC Barcelona, saying, “With the safety of its employees and general public foremost in mind, LG has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this month in Barcelona, Spain. This decision will prevent needlessly exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel, which most health experts have advised”.
3. Nvidia: This weekend, Nvidia also made it clear that it will be skipping the international exhibition. The company stated in a post, “Given public health risks around the coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern. We’ve been looking forward to sharing our work in AI, 5G and vRAN with the industry. We regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision”.
4. Amazon: The ecommerce giant has also withdrawn from the tech trade show over the "outbreak and continued concerns" around the virus. In its official release, the company said, “Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about the new coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020.”
5. Sony: The latest name added to the list of companies who have decided not to attend the event, Sony too will now announce whatever it is they want to, via YouTube instead. Sony insists this comes after they have been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
A few companies, that will be attending the conference, will be taking extra measures. These are:
1. ZTE: Starting the trend of withdrawing from MWC 2020 over concerns due to Coronavirus, ZTE pulled out of the conference last week. The company told The Verge in an email, “The ZTE Devices Press conference scheduled on February 25, which is just one of the multiple planned activities, was canceled. A wide variety of new 5G devices will be demonstrated at the ZTE booth during MWC 2020 as planned.”
2. Samsung: Unlike its rivals, Samsung has not cut down completely from MWC this year. While the company is still planning to have a booth at MWC 2020, it will reportedly not have any important executives at the event.
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