Mobile World Congress, the usually-massive mobile trade show in Barcelona, is getting quieter by the day as various exhibitors either ditch press briefings, reduce their attendance or cancel completely. This is all due to the continuing coronavirus outbreak, with more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally.
LG, ZTE and Ericsson have already pulled out or reduced their commitment – now both Amazon and Sony have dropped out.
In addition, TCL will not go ahead with a planned press conference but will still attend.
Sony have now shifted their usual on-stand launch to their YouTube channel and have posted this update on their website.
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.
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.
Tune in for the video launch though. This will happen at 8.30 CET (7.30 UK) on February 24th and we’ll be covering it all live as usual.
Update – Radwin have just dropped out too. They tell us…
After careful deliberation we have decided to cancel our participation in the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona due to the outbreak and spread of the corona virus.
The health and safety of our employees, customers and partners are our top priority and although our cancellation is unfortunate, we believe that this is the soundest business decision that we can make at this point in time.