Sony pulls out of Mobile World Congress over coronavirus outbreak

Sony has cancelled plans to attend this month’s MWC 2020 event in Barcelona, Spain due to concerns over the coronavirus.

The company will instead make new product announcements via a press conference on its official Xperia YouTube channel at 8:30am (CET) on February 24, 2020.

“Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020,” it said.

“As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.”

Amazon, LG Electronics, Ericsson and Nvidia have also pulled out of this year’s MWC, an annual telecoms industry showcase which attracts over 100,000 visitors.

The coronavirus has reportedly killed 910 people globally, the vast majority in mainland China, and infected more than 40,000 people.

Nintendo recently delayed Switch hardware shipments to Japan and Korea due to the coronavirus, while a leading investment bank has claimed that the outbreak could result in next-gen console launches being constrained or even delayed.

PS5 and Xbox Series X are currently scheduled to launch during the 2020 holiday season.