The Coronavirus outbreak in China is apparently causing more trouble than expected to the yearly most important convention as far as mobile technology is concerned – MWC 2020. The latest company to withdraw from the major event is indeed Japanese phone maker Sony. The company follows other big no-shows from South Korean LG, U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, Amazon and Swedish equipment maker Ericsson.
Sony Withdraws from MWC 2020 Over Coronavirus Fears
Here’s Sony’s full press release:
As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.
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The Sony press conference will now instead take place at the scheduled time of 8:30am (CET) on February 24, 2020 as a video via our official Xperia YouTube channel to share our exciting product news.Sony
So, Sony will be hosting an online press conference on their official Xperia YouTube channel on February 24th at 8:30am; which is basically around 30 minutes before MWC 2020 kicks off. This means that the international press (including us) that were planning to check out their new handsets after the launch event, won’t actually be able to put their hands on the products.
Either way, it’s really hard to blame them when the Coronavirus epidemic appears to be far from being over. As of today, the death toll in mainland China is more than 900, with more than 40,000 people infected. Additionally, a good number of countries are already dealing with the virus; which has infected more than 330 people outside China.
This years Mobile World Congress is getting grimmer by the day. Who will withdraw next? Samsung? Huawei? Let’s wait to find out.
