Mobile World Congress 2009: What does one wear to a recession?

Sad In Blue (a lyric)
by Peter S. Quinn

Sad sad sad in blue
For sad sad sad you
The moon is all bluish tonight
The night is all dark out side.

So what does one wear to a recession? It doesn't really matter as long as you show up!

This week technology vendors and operators meet at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and designers get to show their collections at Fashion Week in New York City. Both events might not seem to have much in common, but one topic is grabbing headlines at both: the economic downturn.

At Fashion Week this year the events are less festive than usual; journalists and fashion bloggers are noticing: "Fashion Weak: Where has all the glamour gone?" (New York Post); "Fashionistas have turned into recessionistas" (USA Today). According to Christopher Muther of the Boston Globe, "there are fewer gift bags for fashion buyers and editors, and the steady stream of opulent parties has slowed to a trickle. Instead of pricey runway shows, big name designers such as Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson opted to unveil their fall lines in their showrooms."

Something similar is happening at the MWC in Barcelona. Guy J Kewney from News Wireless reports that many companies are notably absent; Kewney reports that the sector has been devastated by the global recession and that even large players like Cisco and HP are skipping the show entirely despite the fact that they paid a year in advance for premium space.

Fashionistas, however, are not facing this recession by giving in to the doom and gloom stories that dominate the headlines. According to Muther's article, they are responding by getting "more serious about fashion". "We're seeing clever ways of presenting fashion, and more innovative designs. That's the exciting thing about this economy. In fashion, it means more innovation"(1).

Will this recession motivate operators and technology vendors to innovate and "get serious" about their business?

A quick look at recent industry news shows that operators are responding with massive layoffs and by drastically reducing OPEX and CAPEX for 2009. Vendors are in a standby mode, waiting for Q1 results and hoping they will be able to do something in Q2 and Q3 to save the year.

Nothing is worse than doing nothing, but the industry seems to be completely paralyzed with everyone waiting to "see what happens".

Maybe the fashionistas in NYC are on to something and the telecom folks in Barcelona need an extreme makeover. Someone call fashion emergency!

And what is the color for the season? According to the connoisseurs at Fashion Week it's blue.

(1) Fern Mallis, Senior VP, IMG Fashion, interviewed by Christopher Muther, The Boston Globe