Coronavirus prompts Mobile World Congress cancellation after exhibiting companies withdraw

The man in charge of running the world’s biggest mobile conference said the global spread of the deadly virus made the event “impossible”.

The world’s biggest mobile phone convention has been cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus.

Mobile World Congress (MWC) was meant to take place in the Spanish city of Barcelona at the end of the month, but as the list of companies pulling out due to coronavirus fears grew, the organisation in charge of running the conference has pulled the plug.

“With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSM Association has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” GSMA CEO John Hoffman said in a statement on Wednesday.

A worker cleans glass doors at the Mobile World Congress venue that will no longer be used to host the since cancelled conference. Picture: Lluis Gene/AFP

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“Our sympathies at this time are with those affected in China, and all around the world,” he added.

It comes after a trickle of companies pulling out in the lead up to the event quickly grew into a stream.

For many it will be a significant hit as they use MWC to make big announcements and show off the products that carry them through the year. The impact of skipping the congress may now be somewhat lessened by its overall cancellation: you’re no longer at a competitive disadvantage if none of your competitors are going either.

Other companies including chipmakers and telcos frequently attend MWC as well.

At the start of this month, Korean electronics giant LG became one of the first to pull out.

“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,” the company said in a statement at the time.

Many companies making the smartphones we use to constantly check on the virus’ spread decided they didn’t want to risk the health of their employees. Picture: Mladen Antonov/AFP

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Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE announced it would not attend the Congress a few hours before LG confirmed it was skipping it.

Earlier this week, Sony announced it would skip the conference and upload a YouTube video to show off its new phones instead, but since it doesn’t sell those phones in Australia anymore we won’t bother tuning in for that one.

Nokia and Ericsson, who share the job of providing equipment for Australia’s new 5G networks after Huawei was banned, pulled out as well.

The company that makes Nokia-branded phones, HMD Global, announced it would skip.

TCL, who makes Alcatel and for a few more months anyway, BlackBerry-branded phones as well as its own, didn’t want to go either.

The company behind what looks to have become the Escobar Fold smartphone that never shipped, Royole, ”regretfully decided to withdraw”.

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Due to the health and safety concerns following the coronavirus outbreak, Royole Corporation has regretfully decided to withdraw from MWC 2020. We will be announcing FlexPai 2, a brand new foldable phone featuring flagship performance and Royole's core tech, before MWC 2020.

— Royole Corporation (@RoyoleOfficial) February 11, 2020

On the higher end of the scale, Apple, Amazon and Facebook are all understood to have cancelled their trips as well.

The tech giants rarely if ever exhibit anything at MWC anyway but usually send select employees to attend meetings and network.

The GSMA repeatedly said this month that coronavirus was not going to be a big deal.

One of the announcements included details of the association’s plans to prevent the virus spreading, which involved spraying disinfectant throughout the venues at regular “touch points” and telling attendees not to shake hands with one another.

According to a report from Wired, the GSMA had been pleading with Spanish authorities to declare a health emergency so that the event’s insurance would cover its losses before ultimately deciding to cancel the event regardless.

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Two attendees hug on the final day of last year’s MWC. The GSMA no longer wants you to join them this year. Picture: Pau Barrena/AFP

CORONAVIRUS HITTING TECH HARD

The cancellation of MWC 2020 comes as another hurdle for tech companies so far this year driven primarily by the coronavirus.

China, where the virus was first detected in humans and where more than 1100 people have died, is also the manufacturing engine behind most of the technology industry.

Cheap and available labour attracted manufacturers to the country but after decades of working with silicon the country also has a growing and innovative industry of its own.

Many critics have called attention to the counterfeiting and copying of other technology, but there is also an argument that this is akin to the open source software movement that has driven innovation in that industry as well.

Coronavirus has prompted companies such as Apple and Google to close stores and offices in China and stop sending any of their staff there.

There are also new concerns the virus could impact supply of Apple’s next iPhone, according to a report in Taiwan’s DigiTimes.

Apple is reportedly considering moving production out of mainland China to Taiwan.

Do you think it was the right decision to cancel the event? Let us know in the comments below.