CTIA at Super Mobility Week

Headnote

Featuring a wealth of accessories for the holiday season

After a more-than-one-year hiatus, CTIA returned to the trade-show scene at Super Mobility Week in Las Vegas in September. It jettisoned its Spring Wireless Show and its Fall MobileCon shows, merged them into one CTIA Show, and also convened various other conferences and shows to co-locate with it at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Among the other events listed under the Super Mobility Week umbrella was the Competitive Carriers Association's (CCA) confab that met concurrently down the Strip at the Cosmopolitan.

While the CTIA 2014 show floor was short on devices and hardware that are typically sold at retail-aside from those handsets showcased by carriers like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, or shown at Samsung or at several small, hidden booths-the key takeaway for retailers was about accessories-and accessories make for good impulse, add-on sales and even gifts for the holiday season.

The most obvious trends at CTIA and at ancillary events relevant for retailers are those that follow:

* Mobile fashion accessories are available in a seemingly unlimited array of styles to protect as well as dress up Samsung,...