Huawei postpones developer conference amid coronavirus, in setback as it seeks to build app ecosystem
- Huawei’s developer's event last year attracted more than 5,000 people globally
- Huawei’s budget sub-brand Honor is set to introduce its latest 9X Pro handset during a live-streamed event next Monday
Huawei Technologies is the latest organisation to scrap a major live event due to coronavirus fears after the Chinese tech giant announced it would postpone its annual developer conference and replace it with a webcast.
The Huawei Developer Conference 2020, a key part of its strategy to develop a new ecosystem of apps to make up for the loss of Google under a US trade ban, will be delayed until March 27-28, 2020 and presented live via webcast given the current restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We attach great importance to the health and safety of all guests attending the Huawei Developer Conference 2020,” the company said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The deadly coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths as of Wednesday. Live streaming of product launches and events has quickly emerged as an alternative approach for tech companies at a time when the coronavirus outbreak has temporarily ended prospects for large gatherings of people.
This year’s edition of MWC Barcelona, the world’s biggest mobile industry gathering, was cancelled less than two weeks before its scheduled opening on February 24, after major exhibitors pulled out over concerns about the coronavirus health crisis.
Huawei’s developer's event last year attracted more than 5,000 people globally and served as an important platform for the Chinese tech giant’s efforts to develop its own ecosystem to replace Google’s services, which were cut off when the company was put on a US trade blacklist last May.