Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest showcase for smartphones and mobile technology, has been canceled for 2020. I don’t just mean that metaphorically due to the companies that have pulled out; it’s been completely shut down by the GSM Association, the group that runs yearly event.

GSMA CEO John Hoffman released a statement announcing the cancellation, saying the coronavirus outbreak has made it “impossible” to hold the event.

Such a large-scale cancellation is unprecedented for the event, or indeed for any major tech event in recent memory. Over the past week or so, major companies expected to have a major presence at the event backed out or diminished their presence. Among these were Amazon, Intel, Sony, LG, Nvidia, Facebook, and others.

While a few companies were still planning to go on with added health precautions, it seems they will no longer have the chance.

You can read Hoffman’s brief statement in full below:

Canceling the world’s biggest smartphone event is sure to have major repercussions in an industry used to its yearly fanfare. It’ll be interesting to see how companies that were expected to announce new devices at the event – including LG, Sony, and others – will approach the cancellation;  I’m sure some of them are scrambling for alternate venues as we speak.