back to article MWC now stands for Mighty Wallet Crusher? Smaller firms counting the cost after mobile industry event scrapped

The cancellation of Mobile World Congress over the coronavirus outbreak has had dramatic repercussions – for Barcelona, where the event was supposed to take place; for larger phone brands, which had to radically re-evaluate their launch strategies; and for smaller brands, for whom exhibiting or attending MWC represents a …

  1. Warm Braw

    Firm that offers programmatic adtech solutions

    Hm. I seem to have conflicting feelings about their difficulties.

    1. Oh Matron!

      Re: Firm that offers programmatic adtech solutions

      Thought long and hard about this. We've become so immune to advertising, you have to argue about its relevance and success. Therefore, events like MWC do offer great opportunities for smaller companies to sell their wares

      HOWEVER: It was blatantly obvious that it would be cancelled when some of the big wigs started cancelling, and even if you didn't think it would be cancelled, if you were putting sales in front of the welfare of your staff, then I have no pity for you...

      The shittiest part is that GSMA cancelled it, and is offering no refunds: This attitude may, in itself, be the death knell for MWC

  2. Carpet Deal 'em

    the GSMA reportedly describing the circumstances that lead to the event's cancellation as a "force majeure situation."

    They'd definitely be right had the government put its foot down and prohibited the gathering, but I'm pretty certain this is, from a legal perspective, the same as if they'd cancelled it due to not liking the popular haircut(even if it's nothing like that from a moral perspective).

    1. Dog Eatdog

      Absolutely. If this goes to a court of law, I'd advise GSMA to cough-up and not waste money on legal fees. They're bound to lose.

      There is no farce majeure here, just "an abundance of caution".

    2. IGotOut Silver badge

      Agree. This was cancelled because the main players pulled out. 1000's of events are still going on around the world, so this is just smoke and mirrors.

  3. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    I suppose GSMA can hope that this year's other big trade shows are clobbered by Covid-19 as well. And maybe next year... but this is probably the wrong way to look at it.

    1. ARGO

      I certainly have doubts that MWC exhibitors will instead opt to go to the computex event in Taiwan this year. That's only about 3 months away.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Opportunity, Matey!

        Hmm, airlines cancelling flights to/from affected places. Cruise lines with no place to go. People not able to enter countries without showing they're not infected.

        Hey, how about re-introducing cross-ocean travel? Load up in Sidney or S.F. or Singapore and take a 14 day cruise to Taiwan. Self-isolation with buffets. When no one turns up positive during the cruise, all's well and admittance assured!

        Oh, you're worried about that Diamond Princess thing? Don't trust the other thousands of passengers and crew? You could opt for the Thor Heyerdahl cruise, though when you'd arrive might be iffy.

        1. David 132 Silver badge

          Re: Opportunity, Matey!

          Or we could re-introduce transatlantic airships. They're fine apart from the occasional huge manatee incident...

        2. eldakka
          Pirate

          Re: Opportunity, Matey!

          When no one turns up positive during the cruise, all's well and admittance assured!
          Because anyone who comes down ill is forced to walk the plank!

  4. jake Silver badge

    Whenever I see MWC ...

    ... my brain parses it as Mark Williams Company.

    1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Whenever I see MWC ...

      I see it as an attempt to stifle "MWahhahahah"

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re: Whenever I see MWC ...

      > ... my brain parses it as Mark Williams Company.

      Oh look, Jake's had a Coherent thought!

  5. jms222

    Erlang

    Take it from Erlang, "let it fail" and stop all this locking people up and cancelling things.

  6. Blank Reg

    If you think canceling MWC is problematic

    Just wait and see what happens if the Olympics get canceled. There's many billions on the line for that event, and that's not even including the billions already spent building and upgrading the various venues and facilities.

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