Sony has posted on its website that the company has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the outbreak. Therefore, placing utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of its customers, partners, media, and employees, it was forced to withdraw from participating in MWC 2020 in the Spanish city. Remarkably, Sony had announced its Xperia 1 flagship phone at the show last year and thus consumers had been looking forward to its presence at MWC 2020 too. However, Sony has mentioned in its statement that this year the company will make announcements through its Xperia YouTube channel.
Coronavirus shaking up plans for MWC 2020 in Barcelona
The epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus has become a concern not only in China but around the world. World Health Organisation has also declared it a global emergency on January 30. Therefore, companies have also been trying to take all possible precautions to minimize the potential health risks to their employees. Notably, Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunication giant as well as the South Korean firm, LG Electronics have also announced to pull out. Furthermore, one of the main sponsors of the event Nvidia had also shared on Friday that it won’t be sending any of its employees to the tech conference due to the Coronavirus outbreak. GSM Association, which organizes the Mobile World Congress, has also shared details of all the countermeasures it is taking against the spread of the coronavirus. These include a ban on travellers particularly from Hubei, the Chinese province from where the outbreak began.
Also Read: Coronavirus Outbreak forces tech giants to shut operations in China
However, people who have visited other regions of China must prove that they have been out of the country for 14 days beforehand. Therefore, it is likely to complicate things for Chinese tech companies who were planning to attend the event.
