MWC 2024: what to expect from the future smartphones of the year?

THE Mobile World Congress is the biggest meeting of the year for current affairs smartphones. An event which will be held, like every year, in Barcelona, ​​from Monday February 26 to Thursday February 29.

Every year, the Spanish show brings together the crème de la crème of smartphone manufacturers. It is particularly during the event that Xiaomi has gotten into the habit of presenting its new products. Regarding this, the appointment has already been made: it will be this Sunday 25 to discover the international version of the Xiaomi 14.

But at a time when artificial intelligence is guiding manufacturers’ strategies, what exactly should we expect for this 2024 edition of the MWC? Let’s take out our most beautiful crystal ball and play the little game of predictions.

Which manufacturers will be present at MWC 2024?

The guest list for Mobile World Congress 2024 is as long as a day without bread and, obviously, it is not limited to smartphone manufacturers. Telephony in the broad sense is strongly represented (Orange has a stand there every year), as is mobility in the broad sense. Here are some of the names that are likely to matter at the show next week.

Let us note for all intents and purposes that if Samsung will be present in Barcelona, ​​the South Korean should not present anything in particular. After all, the Galaxy S24s are fresh out of the oven.

MWC exhibitors to keep in your sights:

• Acer
• Honor
• Huawei
• Meta
• Microsoft
• Motorola
• Nokia
• NVIDIA
• Nothing
• OnePlus
• OPPO
• TECNO
• Xiaomi
• XReal
• ZTE

Smartphones as if it were raining

If the big fish in the industry have their own conference allowing them to unveil their new products with great fanfare (Samsung, Apple, etc.), the MWC is an opportunity for other brands to draw the spotlight on themselves with announcements, or even marketing.

We spilled the beans in the preamble: Xiaomi will host the day before the opening of the show with the release of the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra (the 14 Pro is missing). Two very high-end smartphones, which stand out in particular for the adoption of HyperOS, the new Android overlay that we have already been able to use on the POCO X6 Pro.

Another brand that has already revealed its plans in advance: Honor, which warned us that it would launch the highly anticipated Magic 6 Pro on February 25 as well. The Porsche Design version of the folding Magic V2 will also be there, as will certain announcements concerning, lo and behold, artificial intelligence.

The troublemakers from Nothing will also be present on site, but we already know that the Nothing Phone 2A, the more affordable version of the Phone 2, will be launched on March 5. Does the brand have another surprise up its sleeve to keep you waiting? Answer in a few days.

We can also expect a ton of concept phones like Motorola has the secret to. The brand, particularly known for its Razr, made the unexpected a golden rule during the Barcelona show. Will we be able to see, and even try, the famous smartphone-bracelet that the brand unveiled at the end of last year?

Speaking of concepts, OnePlus is never the last to have fun in this area. Last year, the brand took advantage of the MWC to demonstrate to us a certain folding smartphone recently marketed: the OnePlus Open. Will the brand try again this year, when we suspect its sister OPPO of wanting to divest from this market? The mystery remains. However, we are not expecting any major announcements from it, now that the OnePlus 12 was marketed last month.

A show that must hit hard while the market is looking gloomy

The schedule looks set to be busy for the Mobile World Congress. But, above all, manufacturers will have to redouble their efforts to convince consumers that it is time for them to reinvest in one of their products. We saw it recently: 2023 was not a good year (at all) for smartphones. Only Apple managed to survive and post a positive balance sheet. All other brands, with the exception of the surprising Transsion (TECNO, Infinix), saw their sales plummet over the fiscal year.

The reasons for this dropout are multiple. Galloping inflation, already high equipment rates, better long-term software support, new developments considered anecdotal… A single invoice would not be enough to point out what is wrong with the smartphone market.

But it must be said, and the MWC illustrates this well, that the market is absolutely overflowing. Like a congested highway, it is difficult for brands to find a place. However, new ones seem to get involved every year. A paradigm shift that affects even the most historic manufacturers, such as Nokia, whose new owner HMD has announced that it now wants to market mobiles in its own name.

AI, 5G, VR, XR: the buzzwords of the year

So perhaps the salvation of the smartphone no longer lies in hardware. Almost all devices today are very efficient and capable of offering beautiful photos, at least in broad daylight. So what can save the smartphone?

This is no surprise, many believe it will be artificial intelligence. This new El Dorado is already being cleared by Google and more recently by Samsung which, with its Galaxy S24 and Galaxy AI, is making significant efforts to legitimize the presence of new tools supposedly capable of transforming the way we use our mobile devices. No choice, you have to get started. Especially now that we know that Apple is planning nothing less than a revolution with iOS 18.

But 5G, and even already 6G according to the program of certain exhibitors at MWC, will not be left out this edition. While we are still waiting for the deployment in France of “real 5G”, network equipment manufacturers are looking to the future and the next generation of antennas.

Finally, the 2024 edition of the Mobile World Congress should also be an opportunity for certain exhibitors to follow in the footsteps of Apple’s Vision Pro, on which many hopes are based to finally see a (very) market take off. slow gestation since the release of the Oculus Rift in 2016.