Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 – this year’s edition of the massive smartphone trade show held each year in Barcelona, Spain – has been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The MWC event is a major trade show, where numerous mobile device manufacturers announce new smartphones and other hardware. Apple does not participate in the event, but most other brands do.
In an emailed statement to Bloomberg today John Hoffman, the CEO of GSMA, the organization responsible for organizing the event, said the outbreak has made it “impossible” to hold the event.
Multiple vendors began pulling out of the event in early February, due to concerns over the coronavirus and the potential for the virus being spread at the event. Intel, LG, Nokia, Vodafone, ZTE, Nvidia, Sony, Amazon, Cisco, Ericsson, and other firms canceled their plans for the event
Although the GSMA had attempted to carry on with MWC – the organization had banned attendees from certain areas of China and was implementing disinfection measures – the defections of the major firms listed above led to the cancellation.
The World Health Organization reports 42,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1,000 deaths, primarily in China. Those numbers continue to grow daily. For more information about the virus, visit the WHO website.