Chinese smartphone giant Vivo pulls out of world’s biggest mobile trade show over coronavirus concerns
- Vivo is the only one of China’s major Android smartphone suppliers to withdraw participation from MWC Barcelona
- Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and ZTE are still taking part in the trade show, but have cut the size of their contingent
Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo has pulled out of the upcoming MWC Barcelona event, the mobile industry’s biggest annual exhibition, joining other major technology companies that have withdrawn participation over concerns about the coronavirus crisis.
“Based on the present situation, we have decided to withdraw from our debut at MWC 2020 and other related events later this month in Barcelona, Spain,” said Vivo in a statement on Tuesday. “The health and safety of our employees and the public are our top priority.”
With that decision, Vivo has also cancelled the launch of its new Apex 2020 5G smartphone at the event. The company, based in Dongguan in southern Guangdong province, said its various activities are being evaluated and that revised plans will soon be announced.
Other major tech companies that have recently decided not to take part in MWC Barcelona because of the coronavirus outbreak include South Korea’s LG Electronics, Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, software provider Amdocs, US chip firms Intel and Nvidia, Japan’s Sony Corp and NTT Docomo, and Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing subsidiary of Amazon.com.
