As my regular TMT (Technology, Media & Telecommunications ) readers know, there is a tsunami of pre-Mobile World Congress (MWC) product and service announcements and white papers to plough through before the yearly event. Every year I share some of my more interesting finds in a series of posts leading up to MWC which you can read by clicking here.
But now … will the event even happen?
Coronavirus concerns means Mobile World Congress in Barcelona might be this empty – or not happen at all
12 February 2020 (Sliema, Malta) – As I have noted before, the vision of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is about more than simply convening mobile technology professionals. It challenges those who are driving mobile transformation to think, design, and create beyond what’s possible today. With more than 120,000 attendees, 2,800 exhibitors, and over 360 speakers, MWC is the largest mobile technology and telecommunications industry show and one of the largest conferences in the world. It is the second largest event I cover with my media team (the Frankfurt Book Fair is larger).
It offers attendees and exhibitors extensive opportunities for networking, education, and a peak at some truly innovative products and approaches to technology.
However this year, while still on the books for the end of this month … problems. Yesterday, Facebook, Intel and McAfee became the latest big tech firms to announce they are withdrawing from MWC in Barcelona, citing concerns about coronavirus. Spanish media is reporting that the trade body GSMA, which organises MWC, will meet this Friday, 14 February, to decide whether to cancel the event entirely. The GSMA declined to comment on “internal meetings”.
Amazon, Sony, LG Electronics, Ericsson and U.S. chip company Nvidia have already pulled out. Other big brands have told the BBC they are reviewing their plans. Facebook said “evolving public health risks” were behind its decision.
Huawei and Nokia put out similar statements saying they were still planning to go but were reviewing the situation “on a daily basis. The situation is fluid”.
Here is the balancing act :
• lose millions in revenue (GSMA, all of Barcelona); or
• win the horrorshow of having a confirmed case there and have to quarantine thousands of people.
The narrow path through – hold the show, have no cases – looks increasingly fraught. Expectations seem to be that the GSMA will bite the bullet and cancel.
And I have read some pundits who say the MWC is a “dead” event, that it used to be a great place for technical meetings. But now, just a trade show that’s mostly a marketing junket on expenses which none of the companies really need..
Wrong. It is still a great place for technical meetings, workshops, hands-on learning. Plus still a brilliant place for networking, education, and a peak at some truly innovative products and approaches to technology.
I’ve been going for 10 years. It is not dead yet. The real work of MWC is not the glitzy trade stands and booths with shiny stuff. It’s upstairs, in the anonymous meeting rooms that the vendors rent. MWC remains the best opportunity to get all your customers (or all your vendors) in one place, at the same time, at the right level (mid/senior execs) and really hammer out business. It’s almost like a speed dating event. and then, after ten hours of that, you go to dinner with your comrades and your competitors and your customers.
I like MWC. It is huge (Iast year I logged 660,000 steps over the four days, and 45.6 miles walked), and it can be gawdy at times. But I can confirm that real sh** gets done there.