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| Sony and Amazon withdraw from MWC 2020 due to SK |
The largest Japanese telecom operator, NTT Docomo and its citizens withdrew Sony, as well as American Amazon Corp. Participated in MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain, at the end of this month.
The three companies were the last ones to pull out of the conference due to the crown epidemic in China and many countries around the world. The number of large companies that withdrew from the MWC conference, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors and around 2,400 exhibitors last year, is now at 6. MWC 2020 planned from February 24-27.
The conference is the largest event in the global communications industry. Companies spend millions of dollars on platforms and hotels to attract consumers to their devices. Today, NTT Docomo, Sony and Amazon are joining companies that have announced their launch in the past few days, including Korean LG Electronics, Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson, and American chip maker NVIDIA.
Sources close to the exhibitors told Reuters that participants who wish to cancel their participation should bear the costs. GSMA is responsible only if the meeting is canceled completely. Sony said the events originally planned for Mobile World Congress 2020 will take place via video.
GSMA said on Sunday: “No one from Hubei Province in China is allowed to participate, Hubei Province has already caused the Corona virus, and visitors to China must prove that they are not at home. Strangers at least two weeks before the event. These measures depend on previous measures to prevent the virus From spreading to the three main locations of the meeting, especially by exchanging and advising microphones, not all participants should shake hands.
It is worth noting that, according to a report published by GSMA after the conference, nearly 6% of the participants in the Mobile World Congress 2019 come from China. Most of the participants came from Europe and represented about 64%.
In Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE said they would attend the meeting and demand that those who live in China isolate themselves before the meeting and prepare for European employees to make up for the fate of those who cannot come from China.
GSMA is an industrial association representing more than 750 companies and 400 companies in the mobile sector. The association estimates that last year's MWC conference brought 470 million euros (515 million dollars) into Barcelona's economy.