judgment : I ’ve spend the past few days wandering around the Granville Stanley Hall of the Fira , the home of the long - run Mobile World Congress , better known as MWC . I ’m no unknown to the show , having attended multiple sentence during my fourth dimension as a journalist , but things just feel a little bit … different this year , and not for the good .
Back when I first start attendingMWCin the mid-2010s , the event was mess - pack with announcements from most of the cock-a-hoop player in the fluid space .
I remember one particular Samsung launching back in 2016 with a surprise appearance from Mark Zuckerberg while we all donned the Gear VR headsets . It was surreal .
It was n’t just Samsung that ’d use MWC as a springboard to showcase their late technical school ; I ’d ordinarily have a jam - backpack show with launching from many cock-a-hoop - name brands like Huawei , LG and Sony that would keep me meddlesome , running from antechamber to hall to not only attend the launch but to go hand - on at the companies ’ various booths at the show .
What’s changed?
In 2024 though ? It ’s not quite the same story . self-aggrandizing players like Samsung have now stepped away from MWC launches , instead choosing to separate out and do their own events , usually weeks before the show ’s start . The company is still there in a adult way to showcase its late smartphone technical school , but it ’s no longer an MWC launching .
Then there ’s OnePlus who , despite establish theOnePlus Watch 2at the same time as MWC , did n’t have a front at the showat all .
While there are differences in circumstances , it does finger like large instrumentalist in the mobile market are pulling off from MWC , choose instead to host their own outcome , sometimes not even show - adjacent – and that prompt me a lot ofE3 before it finally went the way of the Dodo .
In a similar way to what we ’re seeing with MWC , big E3 publisher like EA begin pulling away from the main show with its next EA Play show , while others , like Sony and Nintendo , would snub the show altogether . Granted , the terminal nail in the casket was the pandemic and a fail attempt at a digital alternative to the in - person show , but the writing was on the wall for quite some clip .
Of of course , I ’m not saying that MWC 2025 wo n’t be take place , with Chinese manufacturing business like ZTE , Tecno , Xiaomi and Honor taking advantage of the swathe of European jam at the show this year , with interesting announcements this year including theXiaomi 14andXiaomi 14 Ultra , Honor Magic 6 Proand theTecno Phantom Ultimate concept .
It also remain ahugenetworking event for businesses , with much of the event blank space not accept by consumer - focus brands like Samsung but brands covering a span of related industries like mobile connectivity , AI , telecom and much more .
I just inquire whether it ’ll finally morph into something only business - concenter , exit bounteous mobile blade to host their launch in the first few month of the year . It does seem to be sheer in that direction , but let ’s see …
