Samsung to skip Mobile World Congress 2021 in-person over Covid-19 concerns
Samsung Electronics will skip in-person exhibitions at
the upcoming Mobile World
Congress (MWC) 2021 in Barcelona due to novel coronavirus concerns,
the company said on Tuesday, although it plans to join the event online.
The world's largest smartphone vendor will not showcase its
products and technologies "offline" at the mobile technologies trade
fair, to be held between June 28 and July 1 in Barcelona, Spain.
"The health and safety of our employees, partners and
customers is our number one priority, so we have made the decision to withdraw
from exhibiting in-person at this year's MWC," the company said in a
statement. "We look forward to participating virtually and continuing to
work with GSMA and industry partners to advance new mobile experiences."
MWC is considered one of the top three tech events in the world,
along with the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States and IFA in
Germany. It has been held in Barcelona usually between end-February and early
March each year, but the tech expo was canceled last year due to COVID-19, and
this year, it was pushed back to June.
Major IT firms, including Sony, Nokia and Ericsson, have already
announced their withdrawals from the event due to concerns over the spread of
COVID-19, reports Yonhap news agency.
Among local firms, KT Corp last month decided not to take part in
in-person exhibitions at the MWC 2021.
SK Telecom Co., the nation's largest mobile carrier, has yet to
confirm its participation but is expected to skip the offline exhibitions as
well, according to industry sources.
LG Uplus Corp., the country's No. 3 telecom firm, has been jointly
exhibiting its products with LG Electronics Inc. at the MWC. But as LG
Electronics recently decided to pull out from the smartphone business, it is
unlikely that the mobile carrier will join the event, the sources said.
Comments
Post a Comment