This afternoon, Intel and NTT have joined the likes of LG, ZTE, Ericsson, Sony, Nvidia, Amazon and TCL in reducing or cancelling their presence at MWC 2020 following the international Coronavirus outbreak.
Confirmed by Reuters earlier this afternoon, Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo and Californian chip maker Intel Corp have confirmed they will be pulling out of attendance at MWC 2020.
Thus far, we’re aware of the following companies changing their MWC 2020 plans:
- LG – out entirely
- ZTE – press conference cancelled, but booth / interviews still running
- Sony – out entirely
- Nvidia – out entirely
- Amazon – out entirely
- Alcatel / TCL – press conference cancelled, but booth / interviews still running
- Ericsson – out entirely
- Intel – out entirely
- NTT DoCoMo – out entirely
- Amdocs – out entirely
- Telenor – reduced attendance
The growing list of companies no longer attending is bound to hurt around the industry, and those that rely on the influx of foreign dollars into the Catalonian capital. MWC brought some $515 million US dollars into the local economy in 2019, and already it’s looking doubtful that 2020 will be able to deliver the same with so many big names pulling out.
Reuters spoke with Gremi d’Hotels de Barcelona, the city’s main hotels association, which said Coronavirus concerns had resulted in cancellations but it was too early to quantify the impact on overall bookings.
Little known US / Israeli software maker Amdocs has also pulled out of the event, while Norway’s Telenor said it would reduce its presence at the show, while not pulling out entirely.
All in, we’re aware of 11 companies that have pulled out or cancelled entirely, and – with a handful of announcements today alone – it looks like there’ll be more to come between now and the start of the show in just over two weeks.
