MWC 2011

Monday, March 1st 2010 - 16:45 CET - Comments: 1

R emarkable affairs at the Mobile World Congress will always exist, but in the domain of manufacturers and hardware, not many things were presented at the Mobile World Congress that caused a stir. There is of course the case of Nokia that announced early on that they would not be present at the MWC 2010, at least not on the show floor. What Nokia did do, was rent a location in Barcelona at the same time of Mobile World Congress and wait for visitors to show up. It is hard for us to say if this was a good idea. In any case, we did not go, and seeing the publications written about Nokia, we don’t get the feeling that this was a bad decision.

 

LG Mobile Platinum Sponsor

And then we have LG Mobile, an important player on the mobile communication market. Just before the start of the MWC 2010, LG Mobile decided to follow Nokia and not be present on the show floor of the Fira in Barcelona. But whoever walked a few feet away from the MWC show grounds, came quickly upon a small, run-down location in which LG was set up. This was very strange, and it was also announced during different publicity stunts on the MWC grounds that LG was the Platinum Sponsor! And then there was also the group of so-called demonstrators that showed their support for LG at the entrance of the Mobile World Congress. It may be handy marketing, LG, but not everyone was impressed...

 

New Mobile devices

There were diverse expectations that were not met. Personally we had expected several iPod look-a-like products, but that was not the case; we found but a few. The rise in netbook products was announced in 2009, but we actually only found a few small notebooks. There were not many netbooks to be found. And the electronic readers? Also pretty invisible during the Mobile World Congress, while there were various E-readers of all shapes and sizes present at the recent CES in Las Vegas.

 

 

Mobile World Congress 2011

During and after our visit we had a flashback, as several affairs such as the aforementioned made us think about the first half of 2000 and the circumstances surround the CeBIT. Also then a few prominent manufacturers cancelled their attendance, and the CeBIT phenomenon never recovered. We could, of course, be wrong, but the MWC seems to be headed in that direction. Maybe that one of the rumors, the Mobile World Congress moving to Paris, could provide a solution, as it is a better location, in any case. If it is up to the Fira in Barcelona, the MWC 2011 will be held in the same location. We will wait and see...

 

Photo : Samsung advertising at the Airport in Barcelona

• Mobile World Congress 2010
• Mobile World Congress
• CES
• New mobile phones