In a little bit over every week’s time (February 26-29) around 85,000 or so attendees will descend upon the Fira de Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2024. Over the past few years, the show has turn out to be arguably a very powerful mobile event of the yr. Phone makers, telecoms and quite a lot of other tech vendors, journalists and analysts converge to debate what the subsequent yr will hold for the industry.
Like every other major in-person event, the previous few years have been rocky for MWC. In 2019, the show hit 109,000 visitors — not quite CES numbers (which hit ~175,000 that very same yr), but still a formidable turnout for what’s ultimately a significantly more narrowly focused show. COVID hit the show hard for just a few years (join the club).
After many major vendor withdrawals and weeks of handwringing, the GSM Association (GMA) canceled the 2020 event. A significantly scaled back version of the event happened the next yr, with a tough cap on attendance. 2022 saw the beginnings of a bounce back to 60,000 attendees, while last yr hit 88,500. Organizers anticipate the same figure for this yr’s event. The number remains to be down significantly from the show’s height, but MWC still qualifies as a big show.
It’s a superb bit harder, nonetheless, to guage the show’s current level of importance for the industry. That is due in no small part to some macro trends which have impacted just about every tech industry tradeshow. Even prior to the pandemic, large vendors had begun migrating to their very own standalone events, in order to not wander off among the many noise. COVID only expedited the trend, as firms were forced to figure outlast event streaming.
Among the biggest industry names not have a significant presence. Take Samsung, which has taken to announcing its latest flagships through the once-slow weeks between CES and MWC. As we head into this yr’s event, I’d like to let you know that — as with CES — small, fascinating startups have rushed in to fill that void, however it’s probably not the case. No less than it’s nowhere near the degree of what we’ve seen from the Vegas event.
There may be an honest enough startup presence at MWC, though it takes the shape of its own sister event. 4FYN (that’s 4 Years From Now) is celebrating its tenth yr of existence in 2024. Hopefully that can translate into an exciting showing. The event is run by the identical organization in the identical venue. I’ve come to consider it because the Mobile World Congress reminiscent of CES’ Eureka Park: an enormous, cacophonous room stuffed with startups. There are truthfully worst ways to spend a day for work.
For the businesses that participate on the show floor and in pitch-offs, it’s a likelihood to get an audience with MWC’s large and engaged audience. For us, it’s a chance to envision out smaller firms that may need otherwise flown under the radar. The event isn’t exclusive to European startups, but they have an inclination to dominate for reasons of proximity. It’s loads easier to swing over to Spain than it’s to fly across an ocean and a continent or two in an effort to hand around in the neon pit of despair that’s Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Among the trends I anticipate dominating the conversation include a continued give attention to health-centered wearables, including newer form aspects just like the smart ring. Head-worn displays have at all times had something of a presence on the show. It appears to be among the many larger shows for HTC Vive, as an example. Within the wake of Apple’s Vision Pro launch and Qualcomm’s commitment to AR and VR, I expect to be talking loads about this once the show kicks off.
MWC can also be a fun show for concept devices. That is where Lenovo/Motorola shine. In reality, the more I give it some thought, the more I’m convinced that Lenovo is having essentially the most fun among the many world’s major consumer electronics manufacturers. Expect all the pieces to fold and/or slide. Some will probably be pure concepts, but Lenovo’s not afraid to release some truly, delightfully weird stuff. There’s even a “transparent laptop” currently rumored for the event.
Speaking of rumors, Nothing’s mid-tier 2a handset is pegged for a March 5 release (albeit an apparently limited one here within the U.S.). Carl Pei’s old company, OnePlus, will even be present. Last yr’s show found the corporate leaning into its own line of concept devices. This yr, meanwhile, it’s rumored to be readying the discharge of the OnePlus Watch 2.
More broadly speaking, expect AI all over the place at MWC, but be prepared to chop through the BS (don’t worry, we’re here to assist). Samsung broke the “generative AI smartphone seal with the Galaxy S24 line,” and now it’s going to be out in full form with applications starting from helpful to ridiculous. I’m cautiously optimistic in regards to the proliferation of AI devices within the mold of the Humane Pin and Rabbit R1. As with CES, I anticipate robots getting a moment to shine on the event, albeit primarily from European firms this day out. There’s also the matter of that Xiaomi automobile.
Above all, it is a big show for telecos, and yes, the 6G conversations have already begun. Remember before the inevitable deluge, nonetheless, that we’re still within the VERY early stage of development. No standard has been agreed upon and we’re likely ~4 years out from actually seeing compatible devices. Nonetheless, 5.5G/5G advanced could be very much a reality being pushed by Chinese firms, specifically. Expect to listen to loads about this — and other things — from Huawei, which has spent the last several years slowly clawing its way back up after losing access to Google and Qualcomm products.
Also very real and more likely to be very present at this yr’s show is Wi-Fi, which succeeds Wi-Fi 6E as the newest wireless standard. TechCrunch will probably be live and present at MWC, as well.
