In the pantheon of tech show , Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is Athena - level — way up on the list but not quite as enceinte or brash as the Zeus - like Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas . But now it ’s acting more like the fun - loving Dionysus and claiming , this early on in our post - vaccine world , that the show must go on .
The event , schedule for June 28 through July 1 , 2021 , is an one-year barter show that bring peregrine carrier , handset makers , and industry players together . It ’s important because it ’s where many manufacturing business establish democratic Android and other fluid products , and its European venue makes it a must for many troupe even tangentially related to mobile . The radical that runs the show , the GSMA , offset the 2020 edition and is now facing pushback from major exhibitor include Sony , Ericsson , and Facebook . In short , they do n’t think it ’s safe to travel or congregate , even in the heart of summer .
“ Sony Mobile has ask the decision that it will not be participate in MWC 2021 , ” said that party in a statement . “ As the world increasingly shifts towards digital and online chance to prevent the gap of the novel coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) , Sony Mobile will communicate in direction that can drive home our exciting product news to a wider audience . ”
Photo: LLUIS GENE / Contributor (Getty Images)
Ericsson , a major participant in telecom infrastructure , also draw out out of the show .
“ In view of the proceed impacts from covid-19 and our master thoughtfulness towards our multitude , their wellness and well - being , we have decided not to participate in MWC 2021 , ” an Ericsson representative say in a instruction . “ The decision , whilst too bad , chew over our precautional advance to managing the pandemic from a people and change of location perspective whilst inoculation programs are rolled out globally . ”
U.S.-based journalist and industry folk are also unimpressed that MWC is happening .
“ I be intimate MWC , and I would love to go to MWC . But I think it ’s just a few months too too soon , ” said Sascha Segan , spark advance analyst for PC Magazine and frequent MWC attendee . “ Both governments and people will still be restive about cross - border travel this summer , and there ’s always the possibility of one last spike as lifted restriction wheel ahead of inoculation rates . ”
“ I believe if MWC does run , it will appear very like last twelvemonth ’s shortened IFA [ electronics show in Berlin ] , with a small universe who do n’t require to jaunt far to get there , ” Segan added .
“ MWC is a fantastical event , and I ’ve been there almost every yr for the retiring decade , ” tell Eric Villines of Anker Innovations . “ So , it ’s a hard one to allow go . But no one on my team has received the COVID inoculation , and I could not in good conscience send off them on a long - haul flight to Europe right now . I desire by next year things have exchange . ”
If it does go on , it looks like MWC will be less a bacchanal than in earlier years and far more hushed . This , in bit , makes it hard for handset makers to overspread the word about their wares , and even as digital events improve , there ’s something about a physical upshot that adds more color — and expense — to launching the latest and greatest . The only remedy ? shout on the Greek Supreme Being of health , Asclepius , to confabulate us all by mid - summer , thing could definitely change things drastically on the world stage .
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