UPDATE:
ZTE has reached out to us to confirm that they will be attending the tech show in Barcelona later this month. The company will showcase 5G end-to-end devices as well as a number of 5G devices at the event.
Also, ZTE will take a few precautionary measures to ensure the safety of everyone at the MWC event. Here’s an excerpt from the press release sent to us.
After the Novel coronavirus outbreak, in addition to responding actively and organizing resources to ensure telecommunication service in the affected areas, ZTE always put the health of our employees and customers as a priority. In accordance with the relevant guidelines of the Chinese health department and WHO, ZTE has adopted a series of strong prevention, control, and safeguard measures.
1. ZTE will ensure that all employees from mainland China, including non-Chinese nationals, have no symptoms for 2 weeks before departure and arrival in the MWC. Additionally, at the current time, all employees are required to undergo 2 weeks of self-isolation to ensure the health and safety of all our staff.
2. ZTE will ensure that all the senior executives of our company participating in the high-level meetings will self-isolate themselves in Europe for at least two weeks prior to MWC.
3. ZTE will ensure that the exhibition stand and equipment are disinfected daily.
4. ZTE will ensure that our booth presentation staff are all from countries outside China, and mainly from Europe. At the same time, we are working closely with the GSMA to ensure that you have a safe, comfortable and meaningful visit.
Original story as follows.
Mobile World Congress 2020 is se to take place from 24th February to 27th February in Barcelona, Spain. While it has been confirmed that the event will take place, a few companies are withdrawing from the event citing coronavirus outbreak.
LG and ZTE both have confirmed that they won’t be holding their respective launch events at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While LG has cited coronavirus as the reason behind the decision, ZTE has citied logistical issues as well as coronavirus as the reason to not attend MWC this year.
Commenting on this, LG spokesperson said that “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. In lieu of its participation in MWC, LG will be holding separate events in the near future to announce its 2020 mobile products.”
ZTE, on the other hand, said that it is canceling MWC 2020 press conference because of practical issues like travel and visa delays. It has also cited secondary effects of the virus outbreak as one of the reason.
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For those who are unaware, MWC is a smartphone-centric conference which is held annually every February in Barcelona. GSMA, which organises the event, has also issued a number of measures to mitigate risk, including a no-handshake policy at the show and more aggressive hygiene measures around speaker microphones and demo booths.
Coronavirus, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has impacted a lot of people and has been declared as global emergency. Because of the virus, around 400 people have been reported dead while more than 20,000 are sick.
To contain it, China has taken substantial steps, including restrictions on travel to and from mainland China and business operations within the country. This has severely impacted production and supply chain of several consumer electronics companies, including Apple, Samsung, ASUS, among others.
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