AI Takes Center Stage at Mobile World Congress Amid Trade Tensions

AI, trade tensions to mark Barcelona mobile industry meet

AFP - Frantic optimism about artificial intelligence's (AI) potential to empower gadgets is set to clash with fears about trade tensions stoked by the White House at this week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The annual gathering for smartphone makers, telecom operators and other connected-services providers drew around 100,000 attendees to the Spanish Mediterranean port city, the day before fresh American tariffs come into force on Chinese goods. Many exhibitors at the MWC hail from China, and will thus be paying an additional 10-per-cent levy to import into the United States (US) on top of the 10 per cent already imposed by Trump since he took office in January. The billionaire president is also pushing neighbours Mexico and Canada to follow suit. Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened. "We expect the current geopolitical situation... to be a hot topic of conversation" at MWC, said CCS Insight research director Ben Wood pointing to "ongoing uncertainty around US tariffs and sanctions". Many of the most important components for tech gadgets including vital semiconductors are manufactured in China. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen" on trade, said major network hardware maker Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark at a pre-MWC event late Sunday. "Obviously a global tariff war would not be to anyone's benefit," Lundmark added, saying that his company was "calculating different alternatives based on the scenarios that we have seen" for US trade policy. On Sunday, some of the many Chinese smartphone makers set to attend MWC alongside other global telecom heavyweights focused their pre-show announcements on new products and investments. Manufacturer Honor - a spinoff from tech behemoth Huawei - said it was launching a new phase in its development that would transform it into "a global leading AI device ecosystem company". Future "intelligent" smartphones would come equipped with AI "agents", developed in partnership with American firms Google Cloud and Qualcomm, who are able to take on tasks like scheduling events or reserving a table at a restaurant, Honor said. Competitor Xiaomi for its part unveiled a new range of smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras and their own suite of AI features. Generative AI's capture of tech industry attention since ChatGPT first emerged has made it a must-have for any firm developing new devices. "AI will be an omnipresent topic at MWC, but industry watchers are experiencing a growing AI fatigue," Wood said. "Although AI is now the cornerstone for most product announcements... it is often hard to understand the tangible benefits" for people actually using devices, he pointed out. "Agent" services like those shown off by Honor are one attempt to make consumers understand what they can use AI on their phones for. Such hurdles have not kept a lid on smartphone sales, which recovered from two years of shrinkage to expand 6.3 per cent in 2024 - topping 1.2 billion units according to market intelligence firm IDC. Manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining the momentum into this year. "The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market," IDC research director Nabila Popal said. Sales growth had defied "lingering macro challenges, forex concerns in emerging markets, ongoing inflation, and lukewarm demand", she underlined.

AI, trade tensions to mark Barcelona mobile industry meet

Barcelona (AFP) - Frantic optimism about artificial intelligence's potential to empower gadgets is set to clash with fears about trade tensions stoked by the White House at this week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The annual gathering for smartphone makers, telecom operators and other connected-services providers is set to draw around 100,000 attendees to the Spanish Mediterranean port city, the day before fresh American tariffs come into force on Chinese goods. Many exhibitors at the MWC hail from China, and will thus be paying an additional 10-percent levy to import into the United States on top of the 10 percent already imposed by Trump since he took office in January. The billionaire president is also pushing neighbours Mexico and Canada to follow suit. Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened. "We expect the current geopolitical situation... to be a hot topic of conversation" at MWC, said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight, pointing to "ongoing uncertainty around US tariffs and sanctions". Many of the most important components for tech gadgets including vital semiconductors are manufactured in China. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen" on trade, said Pekka Lundmark, CEO of major network hardware maker Nokia, at a pre-MWC event late Sunday. "Obviously a global tariff war would not be to anyone's benefit," Lundmark added, saying that his company was "calculating different alternatives based on the scenarios that we have seen" for US trade policy. AI, AI everywhere On Sunday, some of the many Chinese smartphone makers set to attend MWC alongside other global telecom heavyweights focused their pre-show announcements on new products and investments. Manufacturer Honor -- a spinoff from tech behemoth Huawei -- said it was launching a new phase in its development that would transform it into "a global leading AI device ecosystem company". Future "intelligent" smartphones would come equipped with AI "agents", developed in partnership with American firms Google Cloud and Qualcomm, who are able to take on tasks like scheduling events or reserving a table at a restaurant, Honor said. Competitor Xiaomi for its part unveiled a new range of smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras and their own suite of AI features. Generative artificial intelligence's capture of tech industry attention since ChatGPT first emerged has made it a must-have for any firm developing new devices. "AI will be an omnipresent topic at MWC, but industry watchers are experiencing a growing AI fatigue," Wood said. "Although AI is now the cornerstone for most product announcements...it is often hard to understand the tangible benefits" for people actually using devices, he pointed out. "Agent" services like those shown off by Honor are one attempt to make consumers understand what they can use AI on their phones for. Such hurdles have not kept a lid on smartphone sales, which recovered from two years of shrinkage to expand 6.3 percent in 2024 -- topping 1.2 billion units according to market intelligence firm IDC. Manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining the momentum into this year. "The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market," IDC research director Nabila Popal said. Sales growth had defied "lingering macro challenges, forex concerns in emerging markets, ongoing inflation, and lukewarm demand", she underlined.

AI, trade tensions mark Barcelona mobile industry meet

The world's largest wireless technology showcase kicked off on Monday, with excitement over AI's potential to transform gadgets clashing with concerns over trade tensions fueled by the United States. The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is set to draw around 100,000 attendees in Barcelona, opened the day before fresh American tariffs come into force on Chinese goods. A dense crowd packed the halls between stands blazing with screens from early morning, hunting out the latest devices and innovations from manufacturers or set to participate in debates about the future of the industry. Telecoms chiefs appealed for easier regulation and greater freedom to merge their businesses in Europe as they seek fatter margins and the scale to sustain infrastructure investment. "It is time for large European telcos to be allowed to consolidate and grow," said Marc Murtra, head of Spain's Telefonica. Meanwhile Sunil Bharti Mittal, head of India's Airtel, urged "government, regulators, please lower taxes on this industry. Please give enough spectrum at affordable costs". Tariff blow to China Many exhibitors at the MWC hail from China, whose products will be hit by an additional 10-percent import tariff on top of the 10 percent already imposed by President Donald Trump since he took office in January. The billionaire president is also pushing neighbors Mexico and Canada to follow suit. "Obviously a global tariff war would not be to anyone's benefit," although "nobody really knows what's going to happen" on trade, said Pekka Lundmark, CEO of major network hardware maker Nokia, at a pre-MWC event late Sunday. Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened. China is home to major tech companies such as Huawei, but it also assembles smartphones and other products sold by foreign firms such as Apple and produces key components. Renate Nikolay, the European Commission's deputy director-general for communications networks, told AFP that the "challenging geopolitical context" means "it's crucial for Europe to ensure our tech sovereignty and our strategic autonomy in critical sectors". But with no clear answers on trade, many participants will "try to forget" the issue for now to focus on the promise of AI, predicted Cedric Foray, telecoms chief at consultancy EY. AI, AI everywhere On Sunday, some of the many Chinese smartphone makers attending MWC alongside other global telecom heavyweights focused their pre-show announcements on new products and investments. Manufacturer Honor -- a Huawei spinoff -- said it was launching a new phase in its development that would transform it into "a global leading AI device ecosystem company". Honor said its future "intelligent" smartphones, developed with US firms Google Cloud and Qualcomm, would come equipped with AI "agents" that could take on tasks like scheduling events or reserving a table at a restaurant. Competitor Xiaomi, the world's third-biggest smartphone maker after Apple and Samsung, unveiled a new range of smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras and their own suite of AI features. Generative AI's capture of tech industry attention since ChatGPT first emerged has made it a must-have for any firm developing new devices. There is "growing AI fatigue" among industry watchers as "it is often hard to understand the tangible benefits" for people actually using devices, said Ben Wood, analyst at tech research firm CCS Insight. But EY's Foray said he expected "a big difference this year in that AI will be very concrete" in its applications. "Agent" services like those shown off by Honor aim to show consumers how AI can boost their smartphones' capabilities. Such hurdles have not kept a lid on smartphone sales, which recovered from two years of shrinkage to expand 6.3 percent in 2024 -- topping 1.2 billion units, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining the momentum into this year. "The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market," IDC research director Nabila Popal said.

AI, trade tensions to mark Barcelona mobile industry meet

Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened. "We expect the current geopolitical situation... to be a hot topic of conversation" at MWC, said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight, pointing to "ongoing uncertainty around US tariffs and sanctions".Frantic optimism about artificial intelligence's potential to empower gadgets is set to clash with fears about trade tensions stoked by the White House at this week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The annual gathering for smartphone makers, telecom operators and other connected-services providers is set to draw around 100,000 attendees to the Spanish Mediterranean port city, the day before fresh American tariffs come into force on Chinese goods. Many exhibitors at the MWC hail from China, and will thus be paying an additional 10-percent levy to import into the United States on top of the 10 percent already imposed by Trump since he took office in January. The billionaire president is also pushing neighbours Mexico and Canada to follow suit. Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened. "We expect the current geopolitical situation... to be a hot topic of conversation" at MWC, said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight, pointing to "ongoing uncertainty around US tariffs and sanctions". Many of the most important components for tech gadgets including vital semiconductors are manufactured in China. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen" on trade, said Pekka Lundmark, CEO of major network hardware maker Nokia, at a pre-MWC event late Sunday. "Obviously a global tariff war would not be to anyone's benefit," Lundmark added, saying that his company was "calculating different alternatives based on the scenarios that we have seen" for US trade policy. AI, AI everywhere On Sunday, some of the many Chinese smartphone makers set to attend MWC alongside other global telecom heavyweights focused their pre-show announcements on new products and investments. Manufacturer Honor -- a spinoff from tech behemoth Huawei -- said it was launching a new phase in its development that would transform it into "a global leading AI device ecosystem company". Future "intelligent" smartphones would come equipped with AI "agents", developed in partnership with American firms Google Cloud and Qualcomm, who are able to take on tasks like scheduling events or reserving a table at a restaurant, Honor said. Competitor Xiaomi for its part unveiled a new range of smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras and their own suite of AI features. Generative artificial intelligence's capture of tech industry attention since ChatGPT first emerged has made it a must-have for any firm developing new devices. "AI will be an omnipresent topic at MWC, but industry watchers are experiencing a growing AI fatigue," Wood said. "Although AI is now the cornerstone for most product announcements...it is often hard to understand the tangible benefits" for people actually using devices, he pointed out. "Agent" services like those shown off by Honor are one attempt to make consumers understand what they can use AI on their phones for. Such hurdles have not kept a lid on smartphone sales, which recovered from two years of shrinkage to expand 6.3 percent in 2024 -- topping 1.2 billion units according to market intelligence firm IDC. Manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining the momentum into this year. "The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market," IDC research director Nabila Popal said. Sales growth had defied "lingering macro challenges, forex concerns in emerging markets, ongoing inflation, and lukewarm demand", she underlined.

Mobile communications trade fair focuses on artificial intelligence

BARCELONA (dpa-AFX) - At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Internet trade fair in Barcelona, companies are giving a preview of how applications with artificial intelligence (AI) can change the use of smartphones. Deutsche Telekom is presenting a cell phone that is designed to provide an "app-free experience": The user talks to an AI assistant that provides information on the display - the user then no longer needs to see apps. Such AI assistants are a trend in the mobile communications industry and are designed to enable intuitive use of smartphones. Smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi present other advantages of AI applications. These include the live translation of a conversation conducted in different languages. The 5G mobile communications standard is now widespread in Europe. At the industry get-together, experts will discuss how mobile networks have been further developed. However, the successor standard 6G is still a long way off: it is not expected to be rolled out on a large scale in cell phone networks until the next decade./wdw/DP/he