More than 85,000 people attended the mobile industry’s annual trade event last week, up from 72,000 from last year
Mobile World Congress 2014 once again broke all records, with more than 85,000 people attending the four day event – 13,000 more from last year. This year’s event took place at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona from February 24-27.
More than 1,800 companies showcased products and services across 98,000 net square metres of floor space, up from the 1,700 companies that exhibited across 94,000 net square metres.
Over 3,800 international media and industry analysts attended the event – 400 more than attended 12 months ago, with the number of CEOs at the show up by 200 to 4,500. Some 18 per cent of attendees for this year’s show were female.
The GSMA estimated that Mobile World Congress contributed more than €365 million to the local economy – up from €320 million in 2013.
This year’s event features expanded NFC capabilities to offer a range of services for attended with compatible devices, such as venue access with the NFC Badge, catering and networking, access to event information and demonstrations of the latest NFC products and services.
Some 10,000 attendees people utilised the NFC Badge and nearly 51,000 NFC transactions were made across the Fira Gran Via.
GSMA CEO John Hoffman said: The 2014 Mobile World Congress was a stunning success and it has been another fantastic week. Beyond the number of attendees and participating companies, the continued expansion of the event to address key adjacent industry sectors demonstrates just how pervasive mobile is in our everyday lives and how integrated it is becoming in everything that we do.”
Mobile World Congress will remain at the Fira Gran via in Barcelona until 2018, with next year’s event taking place from March 2-5.