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Mobile World Congress next month: any prediction for mobile on 2009?!

Mobile World Congress is next month. Formerly called 3GSM, formerly organized in Cannes (France), now in Barcelona, it's THE worldwide mobile event.
As main fragmented market in mobile industry, Europe has reached a sort of leadership based on a rich ecosystem... I mean full of projects, startups working on them... Because to me Asian markets, like Japanese one, is much more matured and profitable... for all the mobile industry as a whole and not just carriers...

Anyways, 4 days of shows and conferences to get a feedback from market, reactivate some contacts, why not close some deals?

I have some standards there: check out the NTT DoCoMo stand, evaluate the space used by mobile content companies (will Gameloft still be there?), discover new entrants (Apple, will you be there?), see what Google will do, check who's coming, who's not.

And this year I hope close some meetings for some companies I'm involved in (TwitRSS for example, check this out), or any I could manage for some others (can't wait!). That's a big place not to miss, to prepare and optimize!

2009 starting, it's predictions time, and mobile is supposed to be in the center of the storm of the so-called crisis. So that's really interesting to get some point of views, and as usual, Fred Dumeny, Mobile veteran, started to ask on Linkedin: " What do you expect in 2009 (in mobile industry)". Just check or give your answer!

I told this, in summary:

I expect more from some actors to push more no limits to mobile industry in digital space:
- manufactors to support more Google Android initiative with their best device
- developers to believe more in Android
- Apple to accept more disruptive applications on AppStore like Qik for example
- Microsoft to play the role this big software company should play
- Nokia, Symbian, still so many investment?
- RIM really becoming a major BtoC device, and playing the game of open user experience?
- ISP to kick more carriers... walled garden
- so called mobile specialists being more objective and more global focusing, as mobile phone is just another device in digital user experience, nothing more
- Investors be more selective on mobile startup initiatives but still encouraging the best of them...
In conclusion, more pragmatism and more facts.

I don't expect a lot from carriers, except some of them (do they really feel they should change something?!). So let's see what kind of surprises we could have from them with some major strategic 2009 Plans or infrastructure investment. You bet?!

Rudy Dewale, another mobile expert, just transmitted me his own vision of the situation you can read on his blog, and Zemanta helped me to find this from Andrew Grill. Mark Webster transmitted me this (really device oriented).

It's all open in fact to predict something new! To be honest, I did not see anything new since 2005, except when the iPhone came in the end of 2007. And Android last year. So what's next?!

Update:

Thomas Husson is analyst for Jupiter Research. I know him for a long time, and I really like his views on mobile industry. Please read his 2008 reviewed predictions.

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