More tech companies pull out of MWC

After LG electronics, Ericsson, Nvidia, Sony, Amazon, now Intel, Vivo, and NTT Docomo on Tuesday cancelled their presence at Mobile World Congress 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"Vivo has been closely monitoring the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (NCP) outbreak and continuously evaluating planned activities. The health and safety of our employees and the public are our top priority. 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," the smartphone manufacturer said in a statement. 

"We will soon introduce the APEX 2020 concept phone which we had originally planned to showcase at MWC. We will share more updates in due course," the company added. 

Meanwhile, Intel is expected to make an announcement about products during the event, but it won't have people on the ground at the show. 

"The safety and wellbeing of all our employees and partners is our top priority, and we have withdrawn from this year's Mobile World Congress out of an abundance of caution," said an Intel spokesperson in a statement published by Venturebeat.

Additionally, NTT also stressed the need to protect customers, partners, and staff. 

MWC's organiser GSMA has also issued sweeping safeguards over growing concerns of deadly coronavirus.

The GSMA has completely banned visitors from the China's Hubei province, whose capital Wuhan is the epicentre of the epidemic that has claimed 908 lives till Monday.

According to GSMA CEO John Hoffman, all travellers from the province will not be permitted access to the event.

With the rapid spread of the China virus showing no signs of slowing down, the industry watchers have also warned that more companies may avoid the tech event.