A Disappointing Mobile World Congress Reflects the Mood of the Industry
The Mobile World Congress suffered on two major fronts this year. Firstly, the attendance was significantly lower, a drop of 6000 from last year’s 55,000. Secondly, there were very few product launches. Falling sales of handsets everywhere means the companies are holding back and shying away from being too adventurous. With all the gadgetry missing, the characteristic glitz of the event also went missing. The legacy of the Mobile World Congress has been damaged, but hopefully it has not been permanently diminished.
Rob Conway, GSMA CEO, summed up the mood by saying that it seemed only the elite of the mobile world had made it to the event this year. The lack of attendance though did not stop several major issues from being discussed, especially the growth in mobile broadband.
3g mobile broadband is seen as a key growth area for the mobile industry and several surveys have indicated that a large number of existing mobile users see a big growth in their data usage in the future. Mobile broadband is poised to reach over 100 million European consumers who do not currently have access to fixed broadband. Throughout the world too, it is seen as the future of broadband and most companies in the mobile industry are betting on this demand to boost their revenues in coming years. However, the top priority item on the agenda currently is escaping unscathed in this severe economic downturn and getting back to business as usual.
