Under pressure from a crescendoing wave of defections, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), scheduled for Barcelona (Spain) from February 24 to 27, was finally canceled on Wednesday February 12. This high mass of mobile telephony was to welcome nearly 110,000 visitors and 2,800 companies from more than 180 countries. She fell victim to the fear of the spread of the new coronavirus, the epidemic of which has killed nearly 1,300 people, almost exclusively in mainland China.
“Global concern over the coronavirus epidemic, travel concerns and other circumstances make it impossible to organize this event”, decided, in a press release, the GSMA, the association that organizes this successful technology fair, and brings together nearly 750 operators and 400 companies from more than 200 countries. After several hours of meetings and videoconferences with the representatives of the main international operators, she resolved to give up this congress which takes place in the Catalan capital since 2006, and beats visitor records every year.
Since the South Korean LG Electronics announced on February 4 the outright cancellation of its arrival, about forty other players, including several big names in the sector, have followed. From Amazon to Facebook, from Nvidia to Intel, from Deutsche Telekom to Vodafone, from Ericsson to Sony. Their withdrawal jeopardized the quality of the event, which, beyond the media innovations that are presented with great fanfare at each edition, is first of all a trade fair, where companies come to sign juicy contracts.
The last company to fail, the Finnish Nokia has justified its decision “After doing a full risk assessment” and “For the health and good of the employees”. A blow, similar to that given by Erricsson, on February 7, when the Swedish group explained that “Even if the risk is low”, he can not “Guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors”. Nokia and Ericsson represented two of the three biggest stands at the show. A large part of the planned exhibition space of 120,000 square meters was to become empty. Not to mention the risk of further defections and the likely absence of many visitors.
“An epidemic of fear”
The calls for calm from the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, who has repeatedly said that he “There is no public health problem” which justifies the cancellation of the show, did not stop the abandonment spiral. No more than statements from local authorities, stressing that the city was “Prepared” for all scenarios. Or that the measures announced by the organizers themselves, and reinforced day by day, as the list of deserters grew.
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