“the alarmist attitude of the technological
companies that from their position of global
supremacy don’t care about the local impact.”
But Tim Bajarin, president of consultancy
Creative Strategies, said cancellation was
prudent with all the unknowns surrounding
how the new virus is spread and the fact that
many companies had already pulled out.
These days, most big companies hold their own
product launch events anyway, as Samsung did
Tuesday in San Francisco. But Bajarin said Mobile
World Congress was still an opportunity for
many people in the mobile industry to meet in
one place.
“It allowed for a lot of networking and business
dealings, so in that context, it was a significant
loss,” he said.
The GSMA, the wireless trade body that
organizes the fair, had said it was meeting
regularly with global and Spanish health experts
and its partners to ensure the well-being of
attendees. It had already urged participants
to avoid handshakes and planned to step
up cleaning and disinfecting and make sure
speakers don’t use the same microphone.
Earlier Wednesday, Nokia said it had decided
to withdraw “after a full assessment of the risks
related to a fast-moving situation.” The company
said “the health and well-being of employees
was a primary focus” and that canceling its
involvement was a “prudent decision.”
The departures of Nokia and Ericsson had
left China’s Huawei, a major sponsor of the
fair, as the only remaining major network
gear maker still planning to attend. But even