The Mobile World Congress is one of the tech industry's largest trade events. It's held every year in Barcelona. The event was cancelled in 2020 as the world was quickly going into lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID19.
The organizers are committed to conducting the event this year in Barcelona. They didn't hold it in the last week of February as it typically has been. The event was rescheduled to the summer in the hope that the situation would have improved by them. That's not enough to convince Samsung to attend, though.
MWC 2021 is not going to have a Samsung booth
Samsung has long had a major presence at the Mobile World Congress. The company has used the MWC stage to unveil many new products in the past. It also showcases new IoT, smart home and network technologies at the event.
Despite vaccines now being available, the COVID19 threat still remains. Certain countries across the globe are in the midst of new deadly waves. Keeping that in mind, Samsung has confirmed in a statement that it will not have a physical presence at the Mobile World Congress 2021 which takes place from June 28 through July 1.
“The health and safety of our employees, partners and customers is our number one priority, so we have made the decision to withdraw from exhibiting in-person at this year's MWC,” Samsung said in a statement. It will make some announcements virtually, through. “We look forward to participating virtually and continuing to work with GSMA and industry partners to advance new mobile experiences,” the company added.
Samsung isn't the only major company to pull out from MWC 2021. Nokia, Sony and Ericsson have reportedly decided against a physical presence as well. KT Corp, a Korean telecommunications giant, won't be attending as well.
The organizers don't seem to be worried about these decisions. They're proceeding with their plans to conduct the event. Only time will tell if other cancellations push them to postpone the event.
