Mobile World Congress EVENTS
“Foldable smartphones are the first significant change in mobile form factors in nearly a decade. Not since
capacitive multi-touch technology, which allowed device makers to simplify user interactions onto a single piece
of glass, has there been a more ground-breaking mobile design.”
Wayne Lam, Principal Analyst, Mobile Devices and Networks, IHS Markit
MOBILE DISTRIBUTOR COMMENT
Mark Riddell, Head of Indirect Channel at Abzorb
“MWC is great for learning what is coming down the line from a
technology standpoint. I come here to learn and manage relationships
with various suppliers.
We are now starting to see partners coming in because of the IP
telephony landscape. For IT companies and consultants, cloud the world
they live in. I think it was the billing that scared a lot of those guys off
previously. Now that you can pick up bureau billing services it’s just not an
obstacle. These guys are trusted implicitly to look after IT infrastructure
and everything that sits on the desk so there is no reason that shouldn’t be
extended to the voice as well.”
Huawei Mate X
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applications.
Speaking at the
event he said that
actually, it’s more
important to build seamless
experiences and deeper
engagement with customers on a
regular basis.
With 7.6 billion people on
the planet, more than two thirds
of them now have a smartphone
and over 4 billion use the internet
(increasingly via mobile).
Ronen Shpirer, Senior
Director, Solutions Marketing
at Fortinet says we won’t see the
same sort of ubiquitous coverage
of 5G, as we did with 4G, until
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about 2025.
Shpirer said, “ e
industry is going through
a lot of transformation
and there is fear and
uncertainty. Everyone
is talking about 5G,
which is completely
new for a lot of
guys. 2G to 3G
to 4G was an
evolution, 4G to
5G is a revolution.
It’s completely
new technology,
which is incredibly dynamic
and agile. It’s daunting for a lot
of people, they need to nd use
cases and realise how they make
money out of it. One of our goals
is to make those people more
aware of 5G and the security
issues associated with that.”
It’s hard not to get caught up
in the 5G hype, especially when
you look at the launch cycle.
Infrastructure suppliers, chipset
and device manufacturers are
all making progress at a rate of
knots. Qualcomm President
Cristiano Amon stressed this
point at the company’s press
conference; he emphasised that
5G is ahead of 4G at the same
point in its launch cycle. In
its rst year, 4G saw just four
operators launch networks with
phones from three manufacturers.
In contrast, 5G has commercial
commitment in 2019 from
more than 20 networks and 20
manufacturers. Qualcomm also
reiterated its statement from CES
that it expects more than 30 5G
devices to launch in 2019.
Bernie McPhillips, Sales
Director at Pangea, commented
“Much to my personal delight,
MWC’s central theme for 2019
was Intelligent Connectivity. For
far too long connectivity was
the bridesmaid and never the
bride—the poor relation to high
resolution cameras and other
ashier evolutions in the mobile
industry.
Yet 2019 was the year of the
SIM at MWC! Largely driven
by the advent of 5G which
brings the speed, exibility, and
reliability to deliver far greater
services than ever before, the
mighty SIM took centre stage
and did not disappoint. Most
prominent, however, was the
importance of using the correct
form of connectivity to deliver
the best possible end user
experience, all while futureproo
ng your technology and
keeping it secure.
Folding phones are all well
and good, but 5G is beyond
a hot topic. As it becomes less
far-o fantasy, more imminent
reality, Channel players are
quickly realising that 5G is
a critical consideration for
anyone looking to develop new
solutions or devices, and nearly
every MWC display featured its
product’s 5G capability or clear
5G upgrade path. is was most
apparent in the phone space—
from Qualcomm’s 5G chipsets,
to Ericsson’s spectrum sharing
MWC TOP PICKS
• Huawei Mate X – Best of the bendables? – it folds fl ush, has 5G, and has the best (and thinnest) form factor.
See page 19.
• LG G8 ThinQ – All about the hand gestures – the Hand ID is a new way to unlock the phone, just wave your
hand over the phone.
• Nokia 9 PureView – The phone for photographers – the PureView is packing fi ve lenses to allow for exquisite
pictures.
• Samsung Galaxy S10 – Not strictly a MWC launch – Another absolutely great device from Samsung, although
it was overshadowed by the new Fold device.
• HoloLens 2 – The mixed reality headset which could change the market – the second iteration of the device is
a huge leap forwards and the business use cases are now starting to become apparent.
• Xiaomi M9 – Newcomer to the UK market – a ridiculously good mid-range device with a 49MP camera.
• Samsung Fold – Headline grabber – Locked in a glass case made many wonder just how viable the innovative
design is right now.
• Sony Xperia 1 – Great new fl agship from Sony – the new 4K screen is simply stunning, see page 19.
• Plantronics Elara 60 – Built for modern day workers who are primarily ‘mobile fi rst’.
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