Thursday, April 03, 2008

Time to kill CTIA

I just came back from CTIA in Vegas, where Funambol was an exhibitor. I have been going to that show for years. I loved it when it was in New Orleans, then they moved it to Vegas (and I liked it a little less), then Orlando (and I liked it a lot less), then Vegas again.

This year, I reached the conclusion that it is time to kill the show. Look around: how many announcement have been made this week? I mean, significant ones?

ZERO

Sprint launching an iPhone clone (yawn), Microsoft saying their browser will be the best in the market (yawn) and Nokia showing a tablet with Wi-Max (interesting, but a micro-niche, so yawn). Anything else? Nope. Nada. That's it...

What about attendance? Well, I found parking few steps from the main entrance. Beside the crowd at opening, lunch and around Starbucks, it was nearly dead. No signs of crowd in casinos as well. Many many booths and many many dollars invested, but not that much business. ROI very low.

The reason, in my opinion, is 3GSM-MWC in Barcelona. That show is sucking CTIA dry. Every announcement is there. Everybody goes there. Why going to CTIA a month later? No reason, unless you are European and want to gamble with your Euros...

Bottom line: it is time to kill CTIA. At least the spring show. I believe the September show has a lot of potential (we are missing a big wireless show in the second half of the year). If I were CTIA, I would put all my eggs in one basket and focus only on that show.