The wireless industry ’s gravid consequence of the year , Mobile World Congress , is still on the book for the end of February , but now the trade show ’s future is in doubt after one of its largest shower just pulled out due to the spread of Wuhan coronavirus .
Swedish telecom base company Ericsson usually take up a monolithic amount of distance at the Fira Gran Via convention mall in Barcelona during MWC . This year the company was expected to show off a slew of 5 G demos , as it has for the last couple of years . But Ericsson on Friday said it had decided to completely crawfish out from the trade show after an internal danger appraisal .
https://gizmodo.com/lg-pulls-out-of-mobile-world-congress-citing-coronavir-1841457725
Photo: Getty Images
“ The health and base hit of our employees , customers and other stakeholder are our high priority , ” Ericsson President and CEO Börje Ekholm say in apress instruction . “ This is not a determination we have taken gently . We were look forward to showcasing our previous innovations at MWC in Barcelona . It is very unfortunate , but we powerfully believe the most responsible business decision is to adjourn our participation from this year ’s event . ”
Ericsson is the third company to foretell a change of plans due to the coronavirus irruption . ZTE is scale back its presence at the show and has canceled its imperativeness conference , andLG has take out from MWC entirely . But those company have immense workforce in China ; Ericsson is base in Sweden and is the first European company to withdraw from the issue .
MWC ’s organizing soundbox , the GSMA , quicklyreleased a statementfollowing Ericsson ’s announcement , reassure seller that the show will continue as planned , but noted that “ Ericsson ’s cancellation will have some impact on our presence at this time and will potentially have further impact . ”
diary keeper and tech industry analyst who have been contrive to wait on the show for months are speculating on Twitter as to whether the whole affair could be prognosticate off . Gizmodo ’s own Sam Rutherford is slated to wait on the show , and we are kind of concerned about him ( just a little spot ) . Companies do n’t want to risk their employees catch ill , which is possible regardless of the preventative measure the GSMA has put in place ( include widespread accessibility of disinfectants and increased on - site medical personnel ) .
If extra company withdraw from the show , the GSMA may not have any selection but to set off this twelvemonth .
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