As the world’s press departed for Barcelona and Mobile World Congress, Apple invited many of them to its presentation on March 9th. Widely expected to be for the Apple Watch, not only does it keep the release of information under Apple’s control but it also weakens the PR around devices announced at MWC.

Just as Apple announced details on the first iPhone well ahead of its shipping and selling, the Apple Watch has been heavily trailed since it was officially revealed in September. Before it took to the production lines, before the parts were sourced in significant quantities, Tim Cook took the watch to the stage so he could explain everything about it, rather than hand the advantage to whoever got the first leak.

Ahead of public availability in April, Apple is expected to reveal the finer details, again taking control of the information and presenting it themselves, rather than have leaks and speculation dampen the story it wants to tell.

But there is another advantage. Apple can reclaim the news cycle from the top stories at MWC and weaken follow-up coverage of its competitors.

The Apple Watch (image: Apple.com)

MWC is going to flood the mobile world with new smartphones, phablets, tablets, accessories, and yes smartwatches. Reporters will be rushing around Barcelona to find the next big thing, grab a picture, post the news, all before heading back in to do it all again in the next fifteen minutes. Once MWC is over, one or two products will be seen as the winners. The obvious follow-up coverage from MWC will be on these products.

I suspect these will be the new Samsung Galaxy devices (The Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge), and either Sony’s Xperia Z4 Tablet or HTC’s next One handset.

MWC finishes on Thursday March 5th. Everyone flies home on the 6th, then takes the weekend off. And the majority of the follow-up coverage that could have been worked on when people hit the office on Monday 9th will be dropped because Tim Cook will be revealing all the details of the Apple Watch.

I’m sure that some writers will go for the counter-programming to try to get some clear air, but the Apple Watch announcement is going to take up all of the digital front pages and likely dominate the channels for the first half of the week.

The opportunity for other mobile manufacturers to build on their MWC appearances in the technology press has been weakened. The speed of the digital news cycle will give them some hope, but once the dust clears on Tim Cook’s wearable, news from MWC will be over ten days old – an age in online reporting. While it won’t stop the initial momentum of the coverage, the timing of the Apple Watch presentation is not only an advantage to Apple’s timetable, it also weakens the iPhone’s key opposition. It’s another wickedly clever move from Tim Cook.

I’ll be paying close attention on the release dates of the Samsung Galaxy S6 to the public, which is expected to be in April. The Apple Watch is also expected to be released in April, and I wonder if we’re going to see another smart piece of timing from Cupertino, or if the South Korean company can outdraw America?