Tough days ahead for Mobile World Congress

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Same pandemic, different year. Last year, the MWC 2020 was cancelled after an epidemic of exhibitor and attendee withdrawals due to COVID-19. This year seems to be a replay of last year, with announcements flowing in regarding MWC 2021. We already knew that Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, Sony, Oracle and Lenovo would not be attending live. Now, we’ve just learned that Qualcomm isn’t coming to Barcelona either. “While we appreciate the health and safety measures being put into place by the GSMA for MWC Barcelona, we have decided that it is in the best interest of our employees and customers for Qualcomm’s participation to be virtual this year,” the company said in a statement obtained by TechCrunch. MWC 2020 was one of the first major international conferences to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the GSMA’s determination that the show would go on. The GSMA still hopes to hold the event in June of this year, but the growing number of exhibitors that are deciding to stay home could once again cancel the show.

⇨ The Verge, Mitchell Clark, “Samsung and Lenovo are the latest to ditch a physical Mobile World Congress.”

⇨ The Verge, Chaim Gartenberg, “Qualcomm is the latest major company to skip MWC’s in-person show this year.”

2021-05-13