CTIA is taking rumors of an iPhone launch at face value and is already preparing its keynote stage at Super Mobility Week for the announcement.
According to CTIA Vice President Rob Mesirow, Super Mobility Week will welcome a new iPhone with real-time analysis of the event by experts immediately following the Day 1 keynote.
“We’re doing a lot to pull the Apple announcement into Super Mobility Week,” Mesirow said, while also clarifying that he has no insider information on Apple’s plans.
“That morning, before our event really kicks off, and Apple’s event kicks off, we’ll be hosting Squawk Alley, which is CNBC’s tech-focused programming, which will be coming live from the show floor and doing some live polling around the Apple device, and they’ll be talking to all of these live mobile experts,” Mesirow explained.
But it doesn’t stop there. Mesirow said CTIA will cut the Day 1 keynote a little early in order to line up with the beginning of Apple’s event.
“We’ll probably be assembling a panel of experts on our keynote stage and our audience would stay there after the keynote address, and our experts will be commenting as the live feed comes through and talking about what does this mean to the industry and in a lot of ways be providing a lot more color than just, ‘hear this,'” Mesirow said.
Mesirow said that far from being frustrated with Apple’s September 9 date for its unveiling, he takes it as further validation that CTIA has picked the perfect time of year for Super Moblity Week.
“When you think about it, the forty thousand people in the industry who will be affected most by this announcement will not be in Silicon Valley, they’re going to be in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo,” Mesirow said, referring to the throngs of mobile executives in attendance at Super Moblity Week.
Reports surfaced earlier this month that Apple will be holding a launch event for the next iPhone on September 9, but Apple has yet to confirm that date.