The list of tech giants pulling out of this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC 2020) is growing, with Nokia being the latest.
Nokia said in a statement on Wednesday that it believes the prudent decision is to cancel its participation at Mobile World Congress after evaluating the fast-moving situation and engaging with all parties related.
Nokia has been carefully monitoring the situation following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, with the goal of making a fact-based decision related to its attendance at Mobile World Congress in 2020, the company said.
"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," it said.
Rather than meeting customers and stakeholders in Barcelona, Nokia plans to go directly to customers with a series of "Nokia Live" events aimed at showcasing the industry-leading demos and launches scheduled for MWC, it said.
The Finnish company was expected to launch a new series called "Original" at the MWC 2020. The new series seems very mysterious. In addition, Nokia will also launch three new smartphones of which a lot more has been released.
The three new smartphones to be released are Nokia 8.2 5G, Nokia 5.2 and Nokia 1.3.
Nokia 8.2 will be Nokia's first 5G smartphone, a successor product of Nokia 8.1. Similarly, Nokia 5.2 is the successor to Nokia 5.1, which was released almost two years ago. And Nokia 1.3 will become a new entry-level Android smartphone.
Here is the full statement from Nokia:
Nokia cancels participation at MWC 2020 in Barcelona
12 February 2020
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has been carefully monitoring the situation following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, with the goal of making a fact-based decision related to our attendance at Mobile World Congress in 2020.
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 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.
Rather than meeting customers and stakeholders in Barcelona, Nokia plans to go directly to customers with a series of “Nokia Live” events aimed at showcasing the industry-leading demos and launches scheduled for MWC.
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