MWC Day 0 – Halcyon days.

Reply to this post

MWC goes back to its roots.

• MWC has stopped wanting to be CES and is instead reclaiming its identity as a show all about phones and the boxes that connect them to the world.
• Sunday saw the release of 4 phones from HMD (Nokia), 3 from ZTE, 2 from Samsung, tablets from Huawei and one from LG.
• Huawei didn’t launch a phone as it has its own separate event in March.
• Furthermore, with a shiny new radio technology to hype, 5G is likely to be all that the infrastructure vendors talk about this year.
• In going back to its roots, MWC can move out from the shadow of its much larger, one-time rival and reclaim its true place on the conference circuit.
• While most of the phones launched were non-descript, Samsung is attempting some interesting differentiation via the camera but is unfortunately doubling down on the hopelessly outclassed Bixby.
• The most interesting looking devices so far are coming from HMD (Nokia branded) which is making good progress in reclaiming some the old Nokia design heritage.
• The 5G hype wagon will be cranked up to fever pitch this year as the first specification has been set and the base station industry badly needs a new product cycle.
• The real question is whether the market needs this new radio standard or if 4G be enough.
• In some specific areas, I find that 5G makes a lot of sense but these are not the areas where everyone is looking to deploy it.
• For example, I see a great use case for fixed wireless access in USA as the deregulation of Internet access raises the possibility of monopolistic pricing in areas where consumers have but one choice.
• 5G fixed wireless access could finally bring real competition into the last mile and allow the free market to operate as it should.
• At the same time, I find the case for 5G in autonomous driving to be deeply flawed and I struggle to find an economic return from the expense of a new radio overlay for this use case.
• Either way, this theme is going to dominate the conference for the next few years and in this area, CES will never be able to compete.
• All we need now is a return to conducting meetings on yachts and the revival will be complete.