Chinese firms to take center stage at MWC 2024

More than 300 Chinese technology companies will attend the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, as analysts said that Chinese firms are ready to share their latest innovations in 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) at the event.

Mohamed Hakim, a tech industry observer from the United Arab Emirates, told the Global Times that the MWC is a good window to see the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises' telecom solutions and smart phone.

"I expected that Chinese companies to shine at the MWC this year, and their products and technologies will make more changes in the global market," said Hakim.

According to the host of the MWC 2024, Huawei will be the largest exhibitor this year, and China Telecom and Alipay will make their debuts this year at the ICT technology show. In addition, other Chinese tech giants like ZTE, Honor and Xiaomi are also attending the event.

Chinese PC maker Lenovo planned to unveil two concept products including a smartphone with flexible OLED screen and a laptop equipped with transparent screen but without physical keyboard. Smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi and Honor will focus on launching their latest cellphones and operation systems.

The MWC 2024 will kick off on February 26, 2024 at Barcelona, themed with "Future First." 5G will be one of the focuses of the MWC 2024 as multiple enterprises including Huawei, Qualcomm and Ericsson will present their latest research results of the 5G-Advanced solutions, and possibly 6G research results.

AI technology is also influencing the development of various industries including telecommunications. The MWC said that 2023 was the year for generative AI becoming a mainstream technology, and for researchers knowing its great potential. For 2024, MWC said the year will see more AI experimental results turn into commercial values.

Due to the U.S. crackdown on Chinese tech firms, some were absent from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024), held at Las Vegas in January, and a large number of Chinese exhibitors were estimated to show at the MWC, industry insiders told the Global Times.

In recent years, the mobile communication industry has faced challenges such as the slower-than-expected penetration of 5G, especially with the lack of killer applications, according to a report by DigiTimes Asia, adding that how to inject new vitality into the existing mobile communication industry in the era of AI.