Nokia pulls out of MWC over coronavirus concerns

Nokia, one of the omnipresent firms at major tech trade conferences, won’t be attending this year’s Mobile World Congress, it said Wednesday citing concerns of outbreak of coronavirus.

The Finnish company has become the latest to back out of MWC. In recent days, scores of firms including Amazon, Vivo, and Sony have withdrawn their participation from the world’s biggest smartphones-focused trade show that attracts more than 100,000 attendees, thousands of companies, and contributes to the bottom line of Barcelona.

“While the health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority, we also recognize that we have a responsibility to the industry and our customers. In view of this, we have taken the necessary time to evaluate a fast-moving situation, engage with the GSMA and other stakeholders, regularly consult external experts and authorities, and plan to manage risks based on a wide range of scenarios,” the firm said in a statement.

“The conclusion of that process is that we believe the prudent decision is to cancel our participation at Mobile World Congress. We want to express our thanks to the GSMA, the governments of China and Spain as well as Catalonia’s Generalitat, and many others who have worked tirelessly to address the challenges resulting from the novel coronavirus, and they have our full support as they move forward,” it added.

More to follow…