TCL and Sony cancel their MWC 2020 press conferences, joining ZTE, LG and others

The spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) has caused a humanitarian emergency. More than 40,000 people have been infected, with the death count climbing every day (currently, it’s 900+). The city of Wuhan and Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been in lockdown for the past three weeks. The WHO has classified the outbreak as a global health emergency. The cause and effect of the situation has led to the global supply chain being badly affected. Smartphone vendors such as ASUS and OPPO have warned of production problems with their phones. MWC 2020, scheduled to take place from February 24-26, has also been shaken by the outbreak, as companies such as ZTE, LG, Ericsson, Amazon, and NVIDIA have withdrawn from the event. Now, TCL and Sony have also announced they are canceling their scheduled MWC press conferences, throwing more doubt on the show’s schedule.

In a press release, TCL stated that due to the recent global concerns about the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, and out of abundance of caution and care for its staff, customers, press, and other guests, it is canceling its global press event for MWC 2020, which was planned for February 22. This does not have an impact on any other planned MWC 2020 activities and TCL specifically notes that it will still announce its latest mobile devices and showcase them at its booth (Hall 3, Stand D311) from February 24-27 as scheduled. The company noted that it will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as necessary. This means TCL, unlike LG, isn’t completely pulling out of MWC. ZTE is also following the same approach.

On a notice posted on its website, Sony said that it is taken the “difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain” as it places importance on the safety and well-being of its consumers, partners, media, and employees. The Sony press conference will instead take place at the scheduled time of 8:30AM CET on February 24, 2020 as a video via our official Xperia YouTube channel to share the company’s product announcements. In effect, it will be an online announcement instead of having a booth at MWC.

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