In a nutshell: “Telecom” Networks and companies have long played a key role in Barcelona’s big mobile show, but topics like this will play a very important role at the event more than ever. It seems like the event is taking more and more of a backseat with the event, which begins in earnest next Monday.
Mobile World Congress wasn’t really a consumer tech show per se, but the participation of various smartphone makers made it a convenient starting point. CES (held in January) is where every other category shines, from smart homes and wearables to automotive and robotics, and MWC is happy to embrace the monitor for its big smartphone show. Did.
Of course, a lot has changed in both the industry and the world since TechCrunch joined the show in person in 2019. It seems like a million years ago now that the GSMA was waiting with bated breath to finally pull the plug at the 2020 show, his CES that year was shoving it right under the wire mesh (The wisdom of that particular decision can still be debated). But as the weeks went on, it became more and more clear that from late February to early March he was not the ideal time to host an international tech event in person.
The show is back in 2021, four months behind its normal time. We weren’t there—nor were many people, for that matter. The show didn’t appear to be at much risk of hitting the organization-enforced attendance cap. According to the GSMA, the show looked normal when he had 60,000 attendees in 2022 (TechCrunch was again not among them). In all honesty, even a significant drop from 2019’s 109,000 (unsurprisingly) isn’t a bad result.
As I tend to point out, the struggles in the smartphone industry predate the pandemic. The arrival of 5G has turned the tide, but the broader trends show that people aren’t buying smartphones like they used to. A number of factors, including rising prices for premium products, a decline in groundbreaking innovations, and the fact that phones are getting better, have slowed his standard two- to three-year upgrade cycle. .
Of course, the pandemic made everything worse. Suddenly, many people were unemployed or underemployed, with no way to splurge on anything but the basics. For a while, people left their homes less often, and he shifted spending to things like PCs and tablets. In many markets, 5G momentum is slowing. Ongoing supply problems with his chain are also creating bottlenecks. And of course there is inflation.
Towards the end of last year, it was hard to shake the feeling that most consumer electronics makers were cautious about their pace of release. It might not be bad for the planet, but it might be a little nasty for shareholders. We’re also excited to see how the massive layoffs of tech companies will affect this category now.
Attendees arrive to attend the opening day of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on February 25, 2019. Mobile phone makers will focus on deploying foldable screens and ultra-fast 5G wireless networks at the world’s largest mobile fair, which kicks off in Spain on February 25th. They are trying to reverse the decline in smartphone sales. Image credit: Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images
Another key pre-pandemic trend is to move away from leveraging large trade shows to launch products for big events. Almost every big company has started choosing its own event. You don’t need to share the spotlight when you can create your own. The shift to virtual product launches during the pandemic has made this gap even more pronounced. Frankly, even for hardware devices, this model is fine most of the time.
This year, the GSMA expects 75,000 attendees. That’s a modest number compared to the halcyon days, but there are still plenty of people staying at the Fira Convention Center in 2023. The exhibitor list includes well-known companies such as Samsung, Oppo/OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. Samsung and his OnePlus, etc. just Now that the new flagship has been released, don’t expect a lot of fireworks there.
Similarly, Qualcomm made the standard move by announcing its new flagship Snapdragon chip at its conference in Hawaii last year. The company always seems to have some sort of chip or other feature, but it could be months away from a six-month update. We expect news from many of China’s top manufacturers.
Barcelona city sign in front of the main hall of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) ahead of the launch of the world’s largest mobile fair held in Barcelona from February 26 to March 1, 2018, February 24, 2018 A view taken in the sun. Image credit: AFP via PAU BARRENA/Getty Images
Other notable exhibitors include Nokia IP licensor HMD and HTC, who have effectively moved all their eggs into the Vive VR basket. Of course VR/AR/MR/XR is interesting.It probably doesn’t have a big presence outside of HTC, but everyone seems contractually obligated to do so. something in the modern universe. Meta/Facebook and Sony will not be at the show this year, though. However, Lenovo does.The company habitually many The number of devices at the shows that attend, and its subsidiary Motorola, also seem to have something new on the horizon.
Looking at the speakers’ agendas, climate impact is (thankfully) a topic. It seems like a lot of people are still talking about the Metaverse. The GSMA is also dedicating a lot of its resources to sports for some reason, and Microsoft has some talks ready for the cloud. The AI doesn’t monopolize as much stage time as might be expected, and most of Smart’s home story revolves around Matter’s introduction.
There will also be a panel titled ‘Are you ready to talk about 6G?’ featuring speakers from Samsung, ZTE and the European Space Agency. It’s a question that, frankly, I don’t know how to answer.
For me personally, it would be a great opportunity to sit down with the management of these companies and ask the tough questions about where the industry is headed.
