The massive mobile show that is Mobile World Congress is now just days away. This year it kicks off on February 24th, with over 109,000 attendees and the best of the mobile industry displaying their latest phones, gadgets and accessories.
Trouble is, two big companies have already cancelled.
The reasons is pretty understandable – the coronavirus outbreak has caused both companies to put the safety of their staff first. There sadly seems to be a whiff of xenophobia about all this, and indeed a ZTE rep told us that they don’t want visitors to the Barcelona event to feel “uncomfortable” on their stand.
Meanwhile, LG has put out the following statement, which “removes the risk of exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel which has already become more restrictive as the virus continues to spread across borders”.
The Mobile World Congress event will still be going ahead and the GSMA is currently taking precautions by increasing the cleaning and disinfection of handrails, toilets, doors and touch screens etc. They’re also advising attendees to not shake hands.
We’ll let you know if any other companies cancel but Huawei and others are still up for it at the moment.
Update – Since publishing this story we’ve received the following update from ZTE. They will be participating in MWC 2020 “as planned”, showcasing their 5G end-to-end solutions and 5G devices.
ZTE will be committed to demonstrating its outstanding achievements in 5G innovations and end-to-end 5G solutions from the two dimensions of “5G Networking Practice” and “5G Business Exploration”, and will share our expertise and success stories in the global 5G network construction arena. Please join ZTE at Mobile World Congress 2020 in 3F30, Hall 3, FIRA GRAN VIA.
It’s just one press conference which has been cancelled.