After Ericsson, LG, Nvidia, and ZTE, Samsung is the latest company to reconsider its MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2020 presence. Similar to various tech brands, the South Korean electronics giant has decided to cut down on the number of executives who will travel to the expo due to the Coronavirus scare.
According to people familiar with the matter, various Samsung executives from its Korean and US offices have canceled or planned to cancel their trips to Barcelona, Spain, where the trade show is set to happen in the second half of this month. As of now, the company still plans to attend the event and have a booth on the show floor, but its plans can change leading up to the event.
As per CNET's report, we can see a halt on important dealmaking between high-level executives, something that usually happens behind closed doors at MWC. The global smartphone leader is the biggest brand to change its plans regarding its MWC presence.
Samsung used to unveil its flagship smartphones during MWC in Barcelona, but over the past few years, it has shifted the unveiling of Galaxy S series devices to its Unpacked event that happens in the US a couple of weeks ahead of Mobile World Congress. The company is expected to announce the Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy Z Flip, and the Galaxy Buds+ on February 11 in San Francisco.
Coronavirus is a pneumonia-like pandemic disease that was first discovered in the Wuhan city of China and then spread to various continents since December 2019. Over 37,000 people around the world have been affected by the virus and over 800 people have died due to the disease.
The spread of the disease had adverse effects on the tech industry, as most of the device manufacturing happens in China. Various brands and companies have closed their factories, shut down their stores and offices in China, and implemented restrictions on travel.
Since MWC attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year, it might be a good idea to restrict the number of people that attend the event in an attempt to stop spreading the disease.
