It's that time of the year again!

Where everyone one is going around asking if they are going to visit me! ... Well in truth sadly they aren't, however, they are going to visit the second best MWC in the business, that being Mobile World Congress.

For context, MWC are my initials but once a year I allow the organisers of Mobile World Congress to use them without asking for any financial recompense whatsoever. It's OK I see it as a public service and if I said no what would they do? The better three letter industry exhibition is taken up so they can't use IFA, interestingly, around September my good friend Ian Francis Allen writes a very similar blog!

Anyhoo, staying on topic MWC is indeed here again for its 38th year, however it's original acronym was PEDCR* and held in Brussels but because everyone thought they were going for their toes to be honed and painted, the name was changed in 1990 when it was moved to Rome and called GSM World Congress or Global System for Mobile Communications World Congress.

Over the years it's moved around to many a home including Nice, Lisbon, Athens, Berlin, and in 1995 Madrid, then as Zinedine Zidane moved from Cannes to Madrid, the exhibition moved from Madrid to Cannes where it stayed for 10 times until 2005. Then in 2006 it was dramatically transferred to Barcelona where it's played it's part every March other than 2020 when someone opened up the wrong bottle in China, and again due to the same bottle it was moved out to June in 2021, which having an exhibition in Barcelona in June pleased that years sponsor Kleenex Wet Wipes!

So eventually having found its forever home and name, MWC went from strength to strength having 109,000 visitors in 2019 and in 2022 it went to 60,000 ... Erm?

That said it did go up to 101,000 in 2024, but it's numbers are still lower, why is this?

Timing! there I've said it and I think my timing there was spot on. What do I mean timing? well Samsung are done and dusted having launched S2X in Feb and the fruit based guys are all asleep until September... Damn stop shouting, yes I know there are other handset manufacturers and good ones at that but the industry hinges on the Samsung and fruit launches, think of it this way, if either Samsung of the fruit guys launch their flagship devices at MWC think of the visiting numbers then and the positive knock on effect that would have on all the other exhibitors, as far as I'm aware at the time of writing this the fruit boys aren't exhibiting at MWC this year feel free to shoot me down in the comments if I'm wrong Karen!

However, I hope MWC 2025 is a huge success for everyone exhibiting and the the paella sellers across the city!

Talking about launches, one of the brands we work with JCB Phone are proud to announce the launch of the Tradesman 4

JCB Tradesman 4

Key Features of the Tradesman 4 include: 

• Rugged Design: Built to last with IP69 and MIL-STD-810G certifications. 

• Extended Battery Life: A powerful battery that ensures multi-day performance, critical for long shifts without access to charging. 

• Enhanced Audio: Loud and clear audio to ensure communication is never compromised, even in noisy environments. 

• Glove-Friendly Keypad: A tactile keypad designed for use with gloves, ideal for tradespeople who need quick and easy access to their device. 

Priced at £99/€99, we are currently looking for key partners across EMEA to distributor the entire JCB Phone range, get in touch for more details

I will blog further as more cutting edge industry news emits from Barcelona!

*PEDCR Pan Europe Digital Cellular Radio ... NOT Pedicure!