Mobile World Congress 2009
A few weeks ago, Skydeck went to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. MWC is the largest trade show devoted to our industry and we were there to meet with several companies interested in working with us to launch Skydeck outside the US.
I wish we could say that we saw lots of cool new phones and applications at MWC, but they were few and far between. As many people have pointed out, some of the most interesting companies in the industry were not exhibiting in Barcelona at all (Apple), or doing invitation-only demos (Palm), or making cameo appearances in the booths of other companies (Google).
Most conspicuously absent? You, the consumer – someone who might actually want to buy a cool new phone or application.
In theory anybody can attend a show like MWC, but prices start at €600 (almost $1,000). To get into the venue, we had to present photo ID along with our conference badges, and signs posted at every exit warned us to conceal our badges before leaving. Why? Because interest in MWC is so high that people get mugged for their conference badges.
This is a trillion-dollar industry; more people own mobile phones than own TVs, computers, or cars. So why doesn’t the industry’s largest trade show have a day dedicated to consumers?
Because for handset manufacturers like LG and application developers like Yahoo – yes, Yahoo, when it comes to mobile – the consumer is not the customer. The carrier (or ‘operator’) is the customer. At shows like MWC, ‘vendors’ meet with ‘operators’ to tout products that will ‘resonate’ with ‘consumers’. If your operator buys in, you the consumer might get to see the thing a year later. If not, you may never get the chance. Many of the most interesting applications can’t be offered directly to consumers for technical reasons. New phones that aren’t picked up by an operator may be sold ‘unlocked’, but not all.
It’s changing, but very, very slowly. You’ll know that you the consumer are in charge when you get to see new products first.
While we were in Barcelona I was interviewed about Skydeck by Mobile Industry Review:
Jason Devitt of Skydeck from Mobile Industry Review on Vimeo