Just hours after our report, GSM Association (GSMA) has officially cancelled the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 in Barcelona that was scheduled to take place later this month. The event which has the reputation as one of the biggest mobile phone trade show in the world was first held in the Spanish city in 2006.
Citing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, the decision doesn’t come as a surprise though as a long list of companies have already pulled out from the event prior to the announcement by GSMA. Among them were LG, Sony, NVIDIA, Intel, Facebook, Nokia and its phone license holder HMD Global, MediaTek, and many more.
Over the years, mobile phone manufacturers have been using MWC as a platform to launch their new devices which made it as one of the most anticipated events of the year for the industry. Furthermore, the event is also a meeting point for other sector of the industry including federal regulators and ministers.
It goes without saying that the cancellation could incur a huge loss regardless of monetary or potential opportunity to the industry. Nevertheless, we don’t see how it will stop new devices from being announced within the same timeframe anyway. So, let’s see how it goes.
(Source: MWC Barcelona)
