I’m growing a little tired of writing about companies pulling out of MWC 2020, but it seems that companies are not tired of making the announcements, and in the last 24 hours, a whole bunch of companies have either pulled out of MWC 2020 or reduced their attendance.
As it stands this morning, a further seven companies that we know of have pulled out, taking the total to well over a dozen. These are the ones we knew about yesterday:
- 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
These are the companies that we now know have pulled out, as well:
- Cisco
- Mediatek
- Royole
- Sprint
- Umdigi
- Vivo
Here’s Cisco’s statement, shared on Twitter:
Cisco shares statement on #MWC20. pic.twitter.com/a2Nk8Vqyec
— Cisco (@Cisco) February 11, 2020
Royole shared this statement overnight as well:
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
There’s also speculation that GSMA (which runs MWC) will be meeting this Friday (14 February) to review whether the conference will continue. A number of outlets are reporting some fairly sketchy sources indicating the show may be reconsidered, but until we hear something concrete from GSMA, I’m taking these reports with significant salt.
That said, we can see a lot of rationale for cancelling or postponing the show, despite the logistical nightmare doing so would create.
