MWC 2020 seems to be going ahead as planned, but several brands’ decision of pulling out of the event has made life difficult for the organizers. Now, Sony has announced that it’s the latest company to withdraw from the mobile expo.
“Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020,” read an excerpt from Sony’s press release announcing the decision.
“As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media, and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.”
The Japanese manufacturer has confirmed that its press conference, originally scheduled for 8:30AM CET on Monday, February 24 in Barcelona, will now take place online at the same time.
The news comes after Amazon, LG, ZTE, and others revealed they would scale back or completely skip the annual expo. Below is given the list of all the companies who have decided to skip MWC 2020:
| 1. | Amazon |
| 2. | TCL |
| 3. | Nvidia |
| 4. | ZTE |
| 5. | LG |
| 6. | Ericsson |
| 7. | Sony |
“It is of great importance to the GSMA to continue to convene the industry at this critical time where connectivity is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution.”
https://twitter.com/GSMA/status/1226577804789264384
That’s what the GSMA, the mobile industry association that runs and organizes Mobile World Congress, or MWC 2020, says about the current state of the show. The group is clearly fearful of the mobile blockbuster event, which is set to begin on February 24, since attendance is being roiled by the coronavirus outbreak around the world. Is it still so important to convene the more than 100,000 people who attend annually, at a time when there are fears the show may become a hotbed of new infections?
