While the GSMA has confirmed it will host Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain in June, Samsung said on Tuesday it will not attend the technology conference in person.
“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 Mobile World Congress,” Samsung told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Samsung will instead participate in MWC virtually. The Korean manufacturer has plans to return to a physical presence in Barcelona in 2022, according to Engadget.
Several other tech brands, including Ericsson, Lenovo, Nokia, Sony, and Google are also planning to participate in MWC 2021 remotely. Most of the companies released similar statements, indicating health and safety concerns, as well as travel restrictions, and a preference for the new virtual conference option for reaching a wider audience, as reasons for opting out.
Some speculate this may lead to a last minute cancellation of the conference, similar to what was seen last year.
Typically, MWC takes place in late February to early March, but the 2020 conference was cancelled as the severity of COVID-19 became apparent and global shutdowns began.
However, the GSMA implementing virtual participation may be to ensure that the show goes on regardless of how many companies or people show up in Barcelona, analyst, Ian Fogg noted.
“I suspect GSMA is keen on a hybrid (ie physical counterpart) event for [financial] and contractual reasons,” he said in a Tweet.
PCMag Analyst, Sascha Segan said that brands including, LG, Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi, and HMD will be attending MWC in-person.
MWC will take place from June 28 to July 1. The organization is selling in person tickets and will soon begin selling virtual tickets for the conference, which attracts companies and media from all over the world.
