Chipmaker Nvidia Corp has now withdrawn from Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC 2020), the telecom industry’s biggest trade show, citing the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (nCov).
Nvidia joins the bandwagon of firms such as Swedish telecom gear-maker Ericsson, South Korea's LG Electronics to drop out of the event, while Chinese telecom gear manufacturer ZTE Corp said it will showcase a range of 5G devices in Spain this year.
“We’ve informed GSMA, the organisers of MWC Barcelona, that we won’t be sending our employees to this year’s event. Given public health risks around the Coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern,” Nvidia said in a statement.
“MWC Barcelona is one of the world’s most important technology conferences. We’ve been looking forward to sharing our work in AI, 5G and vRAN with the industry. We regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision,” it added.
Earlier, the GSM Association (GSMA) said it had outlined extensive plans to counter concerns and mitigate the risk of the spread of nCov outbreak at MWC Barcelona.
It also said that the impact thus far as “minimal” and pointed to a wide range of measures in place to protect attendees during the event, taking place in Barcelona, Spain, from February 24-27 this year.