TCL has become the latest company to reduce its presence for the MWC 2020 trade show due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
While not totally withdrawing from the event, TCL has cancelled the press conference it planned to host on February 22 ahead of MWC.
In a statement, TCL said:
“Given the recent global health concerns due to the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, and out of an abundance of caution and care for our staff, customers, press and other guests, TCL Communication is cancelling its global press event for MWC 2020, which was planned for 22 February 2020.
TCL says it will still attend the show and will still announce its new devices, it just will not have a launch event. Attendees will be able to see its latest products at its booth in Hall 3 (Stand D311), probably from behind a glass.
“This decision does not impact any other MWC 2020 activities planned by the company and TCL will still announce its latest mobile devices and showcase them at its booth in the Fira Gran Via – Hall 3, Stand 3D11 – from 24-27 February as scheduled.”
Organiser GSMA said Saturday,
“[it] continues to monitor and assess the potential impact of the Coronavirus on MWC Barcelona 2020 as the health and safety of our exhibitors, attendees and staff are of paramount importance.”
The event organiser said it was working with exhibitors to ensure World Health Organisation advice to reduce risk of the virus spreading was being carried out.
No visitors will be allowed to attend from China’s Hubei Province, which is where the outbreak of the disease started, and Chinese visitors will be required to prove that they have been outside the country for two weeks before the event.
Companies who have withdrawn from MWC2020
The list of companies is growing every day. Earlier this week, LG made a similar announcement, explaining that it won’t attend this year’s show due to the outbreak.
Following that, Ericsson also announced that it has cancelled its MWC2020 plans in order to protect its employees .
This was followed by Nvidia who also withdrew from MWC to protect its employees.
Amazon also made a similar announcement on Saturday, while Sony followed suit on Sunday.
