Amazon also skips MWC... Organizers say "No schedule changes" despite concerns of a half-hearted event

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Following LG Electronics and Ericsson, Amazon has also declared it will not participate in the world's largest mobile telecommunications exhibition, the 'Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020,' held at the end of this month. Concerns over the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) are growing, putting this year's event at risk of becoming a half-hearted affair.

According to public broadcasters such as the BBC, Amazon announced on the 9th (local time) that it will not attend MWC 2020, scheduled to be held from February 24 to 27 in Barcelona, Spain, due to concerns over the novel coronavirus. Originally, MWC planned to showcase its subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services at this MWC 2020.

Prior to this, LG Electronics, Ericsson?the world's second-largest telecommunications equipment company?and Nvidia, the leading graphics processing unit (GPU) company, also announced they would not participate in this year's event.

Nvidia, one of MWC's major sponsors, had planned to conduct sessions and panel discussions related to artificial intelligence (AI) technology but decided not to send its employees to MWC 2020 due to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus. Ericsson also plans to showcase the new products it was to reveal at MWC at a separate event. Additionally, Chinese companies such as ZTE canceled press conferences related to their new product launch plans originally scheduled for MWC 2020.

It is estimated that over 100,000 visitors come to Barcelona annually to attend MWC. Especially this year, concerns have further escalated as Chinese companies, which had previously skipped CES held in the United States, announced their attendance at MWC. The number of visitors from China each year is estimated to be around 5,000 to 6,000.

Despite these concerns, the organizer, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), reaffirmed on the same day that "MWC 2020 is scheduled to be held as planned from February 24 to 27 in the Barcelona area of Spain," and that "there will be no change in schedule." GSMA expressed gratitude for the preventive measures separately announced by Chinese participating companies such as Huawei and ZTE, and emphasized that more than 2,800 companies have prepared exhibition booths despite some large companies' decisions to withdraw.

GSMA also announced additional measures in response to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus. It declared that visitors from Hubei Province, the outbreak area in China, will not be admitted under any circumstances. Visitors from China or those who have recently traveled to China must prove that they have not visited mainland China for two weeks prior to the opening.

Furthermore, GSMA doubled the scale of on-site medical support compared to last year and expanded the placement of hygiene supplies such as disinfectants. From the 12th to the 29th, a 24-hour telephone and medical service will be operated for all attendees. GSMA stated, "We will continuously monitor the situation and respond accordingly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.