The world's biggest smartphone conference was just cancelled due to coronavirus concerns

• Mobile World Congress (MWC), the biggest smartphone tech show of the year, was cancelled Wednesday due to coronavirus concerns, the event's organizers said in a statement.
• Some of the biggest companies had already pulled out from MWC, amid concerns with the recent coronavirus threat.
• GSMA, the organization behind MWC, said on February 9 that the show would go on despite some of the biggest companies pulling out, citing that there were still 2,800 exhibitors planning to attend.
• On February 11, however, a report from Spanish news outlet La Vanguardia claimed GSMA was holding a meeting this week to discuss whether MWC should be cancelled.
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The biggest smartphone conference of the year was just canceled.

The organizers of Mobile World Congress, often referred to as MWC, announced in a statement Wednesday that the conference was canceled due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event," the statement read.

Big companies including LG, Amazon, Sony, Ericsson, Facebook, Nvidia, MediaTek, Sprint, and Vivo had already pulled out of the event due to concerns about travelling while the coronavirus threat is active.

Other companies also took action in light of coronavirus concerns. Xiaomi announced it was taking extra precautionary steps.

The GSMA had previously announced in a February 9 press release that MWC would go on as planned, even if some of the biggest companies had pulled out. It cited that there are still 2,800 other exhibitors attending the event.

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