BARCELONA — A scaled-back version of the world's biggest mobile
telecommunications fair got underway Monday in Spain under tight virus
controls, with top firms avoiding an in-person presence after the pandemic
derailed last year's edition.
اضافة اعلان
Spain's King Felipe V and Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez were on hand for the
opening of the four-day
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the first
big technology conferences staged in Europe since the start of the pandemic.
"We are back to
business, we are back to Barcelona, we are back together," Mats
Granryd, director general of the industry association that stages the congress,
the GSMA, said in an opening address.
The event, which is usually held in February, is taking place this year both
in-person at Barcelona's main conference center as well as digitally, with an
online appearance by tech billionaire Elon Musk among the highlights.
Participants will only be allowed into the congress if they have a
negative COVID-19 test result which is less than 72 hours old and will have to
sign a daily declaration that they are in good health.
Dozens of people lined up outside a testing site at the congress on Monday
to determine if they could be allowed in.
Once inside they must wear medical-grade FFP2 face masks at all times —
lighter surgical masks are not allowed — and follow a one-way walking system,
although arrows on the floor indicating which direction to follow were largely
ignored.
Organizers have limited attendance to 50,000 as part of virus control
measures, compared with a normal attendance of around 100,000. They expect
30,000-35,000 people to actually attend.
"It's a great success on the part of organizers to be able to stage the
event. Even if there was a bit of reluctance on the part of firms and visitors
to come," said Samuel Norca, a mobile consultant with US firm Amplitude
who came from Paris for the congress.
The fair occupies just three halls of the congress center this year, compared
to eight in the past, with hand sanitizer dispensers distributed
throughout the site.
'Here to stay'
Many major firms like Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, Nokia,
Google and Facebook have pulled out of the in-person event, citing virus
concerns although some will take part virtually.
China's beleaguered Huawei, whose smartphone business has been battered by
US sanctions, will be the biggest handset maker with a physical presence at the
show alongside telecoms operators such as Orange and Telefonica.
Unlike in other years, no major phonemaker is scheduled to present a new
flagship device at the event, although Samsung will hold a virtual event on
Monday evening to discuss the future of smartwatches.
The congress comes as global smartphone sales are rebounding after slumping
in 2020 due to the economic havoc caused by the pandemic.
Global smartphone sales fell by 5.9 percent in 2020 to a total of 1.29
billion units, its fourth straight year of declines, but is expected to
increase by 7.7 percent this year due to pent-up demand for new devices,
according to research firm IDC.
The chairman of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, Jose Maria
Alvarez-Pallete, said the world was able to shift to remote work and schooling
during the pandemic in "no time" thanks to the efforts of the sector.
"We are going to witness how a fair amount of these trends are here to
stay," he told the gathering.
Global tech show CES, held annually in January in Las Vegas, and was held
virtually this year because of the pandemic.
Organizers of the IFA consumer technology trade fair in Berlin have
cancelled their September event, saying the pandemic made it impossible to
stage an in-person show.
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