Due to concerns about the Coronavirus, Mobile World Congress, the annual congregation of the entire tech industry, specifically the mobile tech and telecommunications sectors, has been cancelled.
While the immediate impact that will have is on local businesses in Barcelona, Spain, where the event has taken place for the last decade and a half, and on the organizers, GSMA, for the rest of us, fans of the products that would’ve been announced and paraded at the 4-day trade show, there is a feeling of a loss.
All the glitzy pre-launch hype and marketing for unreleased products, such as Huawei’s upcoming P series smartphones, had us on edge even though we expect those devices to be publicly revealed at a separate event, going by recent tradition (but the rumours from the behind the scenes views the press and telecoms partners get would’ve been nice).
Given what we have seen so far with Samsung continuing its move into the future of mobile computing by adopting foldable devices, who knows what the Chinese have been up to since they announced their first foldable smartphone at last year’s event?
If, like us, you hold similar concerns then rest easy.
MWC 2020 may have been cancelled but the Chinese device maker has not shelved its plans.
According to various reports, the company will be holding its conference on Monday, February 24th. The Barcelona event had been scheduled for a day earlier: Sunday, 23rd February.
The agenda? Well, obviously a new foldable device to take over from where the Mate X left.
Then there are the expected announcements on networking devices like routers and the likes and wearables – earphones, fitness bands and smartwatches?
We have about a week to see all that happen.
So, mark your calendars for 4PM (East African time) next Monday. Huawei Mobile’s YouTube channel is a good place to catch the live stream, if the past is anything to go by.
Given what we’ve had to work with over the past year, there might just be a number of surprises worth looking out for. Remember how the Mate X’s inherent beauty and different folding arrangement rained on the Samsung Galaxy Fold’s parade? The second-generation Huawei foldable may just be what we need to drown whatever remains of the Z Flip’s reputation after the bad press surrounding its “ultra-thin glass” display subsides if it ever will.
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