Green team will be a no-show at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). According to an update on its official blog, NVIDIA has pulled out of the trade exhibition due to the Coronavirus outbreak, which is spreading in Mainland China and other regions of the world.
No one can blame NVIDIA for this decision. The novel strain of Coronavirus was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization just over a week ago, and it’s an ongoing crisis that continues to take lives. Older patients are especially at risk for severe symptoms and complications.
With people coming together from all over the world, global trade shows such as MWC Barcelona 2020 are a particularly risky proposition.
“Given public health risks around the coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern.”
“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.”
Other mobile giants have changed their plans in response to the Coronavirus scare.
LG has withdrawn from the show to avoid “the risk of exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel, which has already become more restrictive as the virus continues to spread across borders.”
Ericsson made a similar decision, deciding to withdraw entirely after “an extensive internal risk assessment.” Despite increased precautionary measures, health and safety can’t be guaranteed due to the “thousands of visitors.”
Last but not least, ZTE announced that it would participate in the show. Its press conference has been canceled, however.