After a series of companies announced their withdrawal from MWC 2020 this week, GSM Association, the organizers of the event has decided to cancel the tech event this year. MWC is the world’s biggest mobile tech show of the year and its cancelation is a strong indication of the gravity of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.
This announcement doesn’t really come as a surprise given how major tech giants like LG, MediaTek, Vivo, AT&T, Sony, and Amazon backed out of the event in the past few days. All these companies expressed their concern for the safety of their employees as well as the attendees of the event this year.
Xiaomi, Realme, and Huawei had recently confirmed their attendance at the event. Xiaomi and Realme also announced pre-MWC launch events for their devices. But with the event officially canceled, we’ll have to wait for an official statement from these companies regarding their pre-MWC events.
In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, John Hoffman, the CEO of GSMA, said the outbreak made it “impossible” to hold MWC 2020.
JUST IN: The 2020 Mobile World Congress has been canceled by GSMA because of #coronavirus fears.
In an emailed statement, John Hoffman, the CEO of GSMA, said the outbreak has made it "impossible" to hold the event #MWC2020 pic.twitter.com/PS1BqTCzU8
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 12, 2020
Over 1100 people have died in China after contracting the covid-19 aka novel coronavirus and over 40,000 people have been infected so far. These numbers are rising every day. WHO has already declared coronavirus as a global health emergency. And with a number of important MWC attendees withdrawing weeks before the event, the GSMA was left with no choice but to cancel the tech show this year.
UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro & Mi 10 Full specs leak; Mi 10 hands-on video too
