Mobile World Congress Cancelled over Coronavirus Fears

The Coronavirus has claimed the world’s largest telecom trade show – on Wednesday, organizers for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona cancelled this year’s conference.

Scheduled to commence on February 24, the MWC had its work cut out for it with worldwide travel delays, quarantines, and general mayhem. And the timing of the Wuhan coronavirus couldn’t be more impeccable – it occurred right before the Lunar New Year, with countrywide closures and 600 million people travelling at the same time.

This effectively locked out a big portion of the citizenry, who face indefinite travel delays upon their return. In turn, this is wreaking havoc on the global supply chain. It’s estimated that 60 million people in China are under full or partial lockdown as a result of the disease, and while the New Year holiday was extended to February 10^th, factories are reopening sporadically.

In major cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, many employees are working from home or under 14-day observation. Shenzhen, of course, is the headquarters for Huawei (the world’s largest telecom provider) and a Foxconn factory that produces the bulk of Apple’s iPhone products (amongst other consumer devices).

So the Mobile World Congress, which draws heavily from Asia, was always going to be a tough sell – especially after consumer bigwigs like Nokia, Facebook, AT&T, Sprint, and Intel pulled out of the conference.

According to the event organizer, “the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event.” And it’s not hard to see why.

The human impact of the Coronavirus is clear – over 1,000 dead -- and the worldwide effects are rippling outwards to every corner of the supply chain. Every company that relies on Chinese imports – which is to say, many – will face long delays, possibly through March. The U.S. solar panel installation business counts on Chinese imports for up to 80% of their supply. Meanwhile, medical devices slated for export across China are being re-routed to areas in China.

And the cancellation of MWC will have an immediate effect on telecom product launches and distribution. Many companies will hold their own events – albeit on infinitesimally smaller platforms – while others may delay product launches altogether. MWC is the biggest global stage for telecom news – think CES in its heyday – so cancelling it will have a dramatic butterfly effect on the entire industry.

Read more about this momentous news here: https://www.cnet.com/news/mwc-organizers-cancel-show-as-big-companies-bail-on-coronavirus-fears/