Η GSMA still plans to carry out normally Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this summer, he said Mobile World Live this week.
Εpandemic is still rampant in Spain, its chief executive GSMA, John Hoffman, he says in MWL that he plans to hold the conference Mobile World Congress 2021 from June 28 to July 1.
Hoffman says that MWC Shanghai next week will be a testament to the conduct of the trade technology fair in 2021, although the COVID situation in China and the ethnic composition of the participants in Shanghai is radically different from that at the MWC in Barcelona.
Predicts that they will attend 20.000 people in the Shanghai exhibition, a decrease from 60.000 of 2019, and until 50.000 in the possible Barcelona exhibition, reduced from 110.000 in 2019.
In addition, Hoffman aspires to transform the entire city of Barcelona, population 1,6 million, in a "bubble", requiring negative tests among participants, according to MWL. Vaccination will not be required for follow-up.
«Our view is that it would be great if people were vaccinated, but we can not rely on this 2021, so instead we rely on tests in advance to ensure that our bubble will not be just Fira Gran Via, but the whole of Barcelona", he said.
The Lady MWC Exhibition is traditionally held in late February or early March. This year, the dates for the Barcelona and Shanghai conferences have been exchanged.
China vs. Spain: The History of Two Trade Fairs
The MWC exhibition in China usually attracts participants mainly from China.
The use of the MWC exhibition in Shanghai as evidence for the conduct of the MWC in Spain runs the risk of combining two points with very, very different COVID situations. According to the WHO, China had 175 new cases of COVID last week while Spain had 55.847. The Spanish MWC is also much more dependent on international travelers. According to GSMA, only 9% of participants in MWC Shanghai 2019 came from countries outside the Asia-Pacific region, where COVID-19 is generally well controlled. Eighty percent came from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan.
This is not the case with the MWC in Spain. In the MWC 2019 in Spain, only 32% of the participants came from the country itself. The next two largest entrants were from the US and the UK and Spain currently has travel restrictions for both countries. World travel analyst Skift says UK visitors may be allowed to return with vaccination passports, but says nothing about the world from the US.
Hoffman's strategy of using negative PCR molecular tests instead of immune status or local virus testing has already proved disastrous in the case of the much smaller Abundance 360 conference, held in California in late January. According to New York Times, this 80-person conference was based on repeated coronavirus tests and resulted in at least 24 new infections.
Who will attend?
The main MWC attracts a more international crowd.
The MWC consists of two key elements: one is about networking and closing deals, and the other is about retail and product announcements. When it launched in February, it first established itself with Microsoft Windows Mobile releases and then, after the iPhone, with events Samsung Galaxy and the series G of LG. Moving the exhibition to the end of June poses an interesting problem for the press and the public, as summer is usually not a great time for product announcements and releases. (Many people are on vacation, especially in Europe.)
On the other hand, the pandemic Covid has dramatically changed the way and when products are released, with schedules changing and virtual presentations dominating. For example, the version Galaxy S20FE September / October was something unusual and its announcement S21 in January was at least a month earlier than expected.
Her communication manager TCL Mobile, Brad Molen, asked his Twitter followers who would attend. Techsponential co-founder Avi Greengart says he thinks so, while analyst Moor Insights & Strategy, Anshel Sag, who was treated for COVID last year, said no.
Who's going to MWC this year?
- Brad Molen (@phonewisdom) February 17, 2021
Αsecure diplomacy
However, all this can be a bluff.
Barcelona is desperate to return the MWC and trade fairs in general. MWC 2020 was expected to have an economic impact 497 million in the city and create more than 14.000 part-time jobs. GSMA is also desperate to return the report, as much of the agency's annual budget comes from the panel rentals in the report.
A virtual exhibition would not help Barcelona's economy and also virtual presentations did not have the impact on the industry that live and close exhibitions have. The world's largest technology trade show, CES, was held entirely online in January. In addition to empty business hotels and restaurants in Las Vegas, CES saw a dramatic drop in exhibitors - by about 4.500 in 2020 into a 1.943 in 2021 - and led to a reduction in press coverage, from more than 200.000 stories published in 2020 to around 165.000 in 2021
Certainly a digital event does not have the same dynamics as a live and up close event. In fact, at technology shows such as MWC and CES, practical time with new products is also crucial, which may not be the case in a digital presentation that, as Hoffman described at MWL, is "touchless."
Currently, several trade fairs are scheduled in Spain shortly before the MWC. Enric Sierra, columnist for the local newspaper La Vanguardia, calls her Food as the big test for the MWC. It will take place in Barcelona on May 17-20. Other observers point to FITUR trade fair, which is supposed to take place in Madrid in May, and ISE report, which is supposed to take place in June in Barcelona.
Recall that the MWC 2020 was canceled two weeks before its start, so the exhibition can still proceed normally.
Do not forget to follow it Xiaomi-miui.gr on Google News to be informed immediately about all our new articles! You can also if you use RSS reader, add our page to your list by simply following this link >> https://news.xiaomi-miui.gr/feed/gn
Follow us on Telegram so that you are the first to learn our every news!
