Sony becomes latest major brand to pull out of MWC 2020 over coronavirus

Mobile World Congress is the biggest tech event of the year and companies from across the globe are typically in attendance. However, the recent coronavirus outbreak has led to many cancelations and today another big name joins the list.

The Xperia 1.1 will be unveiled through YouTube

Sony has today announced that it has “taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona” like Amazon, Ericsson, LG, NVIDIA, and ZTE.

The company says it has been closely monitoring the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30, and places “the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees.”

As some of you may already know, Sony had already scheduled a press conference on Monday, February 24. The company says this will now go ahead as a livestream at 8:30am CET via the official Xperia YouTube channel.

Sony is apparently going to unveil the Xperia 1.1 flagship which will reportedly feature a 6.6-inch display, 5G network support, the Snapdragon 865, and a quadruple-camera setup. Front-facing stereo speakers and a headphone jack should also be part of the package.

Up Sony’s sleeves will be two mid-range smartphones too. Little is known about the products right now but they’re expected to replace the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus.