Nokia, HMD Global cancel MWC 2020 participation over Coronavirus outbreak

The list of technology companies giving this year’s MWC event a miss is growing. The latest is Nokia.

Nokia, HMD Global won’t attend MWC 2020 (AP)

The Mobile World Congress 2020 is going to be a ghost town. Following the Coronavirus outbreak in China, a number of companies have pulled from the conference, which is scheduled to take place between February 24 and February 27 in Barcelona, Spain. The latest company to skip the MWC 2020 is Nokia.

"While the health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority, we also recognize that we have a responsibility to the industry and our customers. In view of this, we have taken the necessary time to evaluate a fast-moving situation, engage with the GSMA and other stakeholders, regularly consult external experts and authorities, and plan to manage risks based on a wide range of scenarios," said the company in a post.

"The conclusion of that process is that we believe the prudent decision is to cancel our participation at Mobile World Congress. We want to express our thanks to the GSMA, the governments of China and Spain as well as Catalonia's Generalitat, and many others who have worked tirelessly to address the challenges resulting from the novel coronavirus, and they have our full support as they move forward," it added.

 

Health and safety of our employees, partners and media is our first priority. After carefully evaluating the situation, we have decided to cancel our MWC plans. We will get back to you soon with new date for introducing new awesome Nokia phoneshttps://t.co/FiOsuAj1cs

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) February 12, 2020

Nokia said it will host a series of "Nokia Live" events to showcase its products and other demos that were originally scheduled for the MWC 2020.

HMD Global, which owns branding rights and intellectual property licensing for Nokia phones, has also confirmed cancelling its participation in the Mobile World Congress.

"MWC Barcelona has always been a key event in our annual calendar and we were very excited to showcase our new products to our partners, customers, media and fans. However, the health and safety of our employees, customers, and stakeholders is our highest priority. We still plan to showcase what we had lined up for our presence at MWC Barcelona and will share details on how we'll do that soon," said the company in a post.

HMD Global was rumoured to unveil a variety of phones at the MWC 2020. The company had also confirmed a February 23 event. According to reports, HMD Global was going to launch Nokia 8.2 5G, Nokia 5.2 and Nokia 1.3 smartphones at its event.

So far, the likes of Amazon, Vivo, Sony, Facebook, and Ericsson have withdrawn from the event.