Four Major Mobile Companies Walk Out of MWC 2021

Last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 was canceled, and it looks like the hosting party, i.e., the GSM Association (GSMA), will face similar issues this year.

Even though the Coronavirus vaccines are out, the number of cases around the world is on the rise. Keeping this in mind, Ericsson, one of the leading telecom equipment makers, has confirmed that it will not attend the conference. This decision has encouraged others to follow the suit. Soon after Ericsson’s announcement Nokia also confirmed that it is pulling out of the event.

In a statement, HMD Global said,

After careful consideration, Nokia has decided not to have a physical presence at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2021. The health of our employees, customers, and partners is of paramount importance to us. Given the international nature of the event and with the global vaccine rollout still in its early phases, we have made the considered decision to instead participate in only the virtual event.

In addition to Nokia and Ericsson, other companies like Sony Mobile and Oracle have confirmed they won’t be present at the Mobile World Congress physically citing similar reasons.

Last year, GSMA had to cancel the event since most of the tech giants announced that they would not attend the event. Although GSMA has not talked about anything of the sort yet, we see a similar pattern here.

The organization held the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai in late February, which was an in-person event. Around 17,000 people attended the event, without any positive COVID-19 diagnoses. However, with things getting worse elsewhere around the world, it is a wise decision to be cautious.



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