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What Happened To CeBit?

You probably haven't noticed, but CeBit is going on right now in Germany. Several years ago, CeBit was the definitive show for wireless. Today that is no longer the case. The wireless industry has shifted from CeBit to CES, 3GSM and CTIA, leaving CeBit as a kind of wireless has been. Why did this happen?

I think part of it had to do with 3GSM's emergence as the definitive show for the wireless industry. 3GSM evolved from a clubby gathering of European carriers and network vendors in Cannes to the global agenda-setting show for the entire wireless industry.

Another factor is the continued growth of both CES and CTIA in North America. Mobile phones are now one of the biggest sectors for consumer electronics and CES as emerged as the biggest show for that industry. Mobile devices and CES are two great tastes that go great together (except for iPhone, which this year managed to upstage CES from afield in San Francisco).

And then there is CTIA, now the second most important wireless show in the world and the agenda-setting show for the North American wireless market.

All of this means that while CeBit is still important for Europe, it's not what it used to be for the wireless industry.

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