Remember: last weekend was supposed to arrive in Barcelona onMobile World Congress.However, the show was canceledfor public health reasons: the GSMA association thus preferred not to increase the risks of spreading the Wuhan disease by inviting journalists and companies from all over the world, including a large part of the country at the origin of the catastrophe.
Furthermore, we have just heard the news: Facebook is also forced to put an end to the 2020 edition of its conferenceF8, before it even started. It was to be held on May 5 and 6 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. The same place where Apple's WWDC is set up...
Let’s weigh it for…
So, should we be concerned about the fate of the event supposed to announce the successor of theiPhone SE? To find out, let's first look at the Apple case. Already, the firm is renowned for not doing like everyone else: it does not participate in CES or IFA, and likes to maintain a brand image denoting the competition. Behaving like other companies like LG or Oppo which have canceled their visit to Spain would therefore be contrary to its habits.
© Apple
Furthermore, the end of March (the supposed period for making your new smartphone official) is still far away and the potential pandemic still has time to subside. As for theWorldwide Developers Conference, it is most often scheduled for June, an even further date in the calendar. Finally, according to the latest statements from Tim Cook himself, production will resume calmly among its Asian subcontractors, a sign of a clear improvementalso known by its company's stores on site.
…And the cons
But despite everything, some negative points tarnish the picture: we know for example that thehealthis a key issue that is really close to Apple's heart, as demonstratedthe most recent news on the subject with the Watch.In addition, the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, which is supposed to be broadcast next month, has also already seen many exhibitors throw in the towel, such as Microsoft or Sony. These withdrawals are one of the reasons which pushed the MWC to bow out, and we already know that other hosts such as Baselworld, Swatch and the Geneva Watch Show have done the same.
Finally, let's remember that it is not a problem for Cupertino to move the date of its WWDC: this had already happened in 2003 and 2006. As for the Tokyo Olympics, they would already be in discussion with theOMS. What do you think? As a precaution, should we better postpone the launch of the first iOS mobile of 2020 or simply cross our fingers that the medicine bears fruit?
