Sony has pulled out of the MWC 2020 tradeshow taking place in a couple of weeks, despite assurances from GSMA that the event will go ahead and be safe for exhibitors and attendees.
Sony’s exit follows LG, ZTE, Ericsson, Nvidia and Amazon which have also pulled out of the show, though ZTE has committed to having its staff still attend, albeit in reduced numbers.
Despite pulling out of the show due to Coronavirus outbreak concerns, Sony will still reveal new products through a video press conference to be held on the Sony Xperia YouTube channel, which will take place at the same time of 8.30am (CET) on 24 February 2020.
Looking at the brands which have pulled out of MWC, you may reasonably conclude that its only companies that either (a) don’t have a big presence at MWC anyway – such as ZTE, Nvidia and Amazon – or (b) haven’t had big showings at MWC in recent years anyway, so have little reason to risk going this year (LG).
Read the full statement on Sony’s MWC exit below.
Sony statement on MWC 2020
Sony’s Participation at MWC Barcelona 2020
Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020.
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.
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 would like to thank everyone for their understanding and ongoing support during these challenging times.
At this point, shouldn’t they just consider cancelling the whole event at this point and the companies can do virtual presentations?
You know what Jamie, I’m waiting for something like this .. but if they did, the repercussions would be enormous. How many millions of dollars have been spent by companies to get exhibitors, media, etc to this show, and how much (if any) of this would they recoup if GSMA cancelled the show?
As much as it might seem like a logical next step, the loss of good will could kill MWC for good.