Upon arriving at the Europa-Fira station, an advertisement from Chinese Huawei confirms that the Mobile World Congress (MWC) has arrived in the city for another year. What is striking is that the protagonist is not its latest mobile phone, but rather a car that occupies more space on the billboard, accompanied by a watch and an apartment building. As if we were at the Automobile, its new electric vehicle model is displayed in the center of the stand, rotating so it can be viewed from all angles and photographed. "This year our motto is HumanxCarxHome because we are committed to launching products beyond smartphones and building a 360-degree ecosystem in which the user, mobile phone, car, home appliances... are connected," says Xiaomi's communication manager in Spain, Laura de Benito, who has no doubt that the MWC continues to be the event where one must be present because it is "the pinnacle of innovation and the best showcase."
A trend that can be felt from this Monday until Thursday in every corner of the Gran Via exhibition center, where mobile phones are seen, but they no longer capture the most attention. "For many years now, the MWC has become the top event for technological transformation," defends IBM's Experience Design Director, Joanra Mallart, with 12 editions under his belt. "Today, both telco clients and others have come to see us, from consumer goods and retail companies to banking, and this will be the trend for the rest of the days. What people come to Mobile for is to see how technology can help transform their company," Mallart emphasizes. This is demonstrated by last year's attendance figures, with 56% of congress attendees working in industries adjacent to telecommunications, a percentage that is expected to be maintained this year.
It is not surprising that an aviation company like Airbus is one of the 2,400 exhibitors participating in this edition of the MWC. "It is no longer a meeting for the mobile industry because now everything is connected to everything," they summarize from the manufacturer, who not only presents the A350 Family aircraft model, but also a drone that is expected to be used in a 6G network for a more connected airspace. "The scope of the show is expanding," summarizes Firasat Siddiqui, global director of Customer Projects for Harman Automotive, an American company specializing in developing products for the connected car. "It should be called Connectivity World Congress," adds a colleague.
Even companies that started as mobile phone manufacturers have changed sectors. This is the case of the Taiwanese HTC. In 2010, it started developing smartphones, but, six years later, it changed course and entered the world of virtual reality. After a few editions trying this new business path, MWC 2024 will mark a turning point, with the presentation of a wide range of applications of this technology for different sectors, such as entertainment, medicine or retail. Even the dancer Blanca Li has collaborated in an immersive experience, allowing one to immerse themselves in a forest full of masked dancers by simply putting on virtual reality glasses. Members of the team from Granada walked around the stand this Monday checking these solutions firsthand.
However, for years, the flying taxi from the South Korean SK Telecom is the one that manages to gather large crowds at any time of the day. But, this year, without a doubt, the conversational robot exhibited by the state telecommunications company of the United Arab Emirates, Etisalat &, will take a good part of the flashes. It is called Ameca and does not stop answering the questions of the attendees, interested in knowing if it has feelings or if it gets tired. It looks into the eyes of whoever speaks to it and gesticulates while responding gracefully. "In the future, humans and robots will be able to work together harmoniously," it assures when asked if it will destroy many jobs. The humanoid has been developed by the British Engineered Arts and, in addition to participating in the MWC, it can be found in museums, hotels, casinos or universities, it is even hired to accompany the elderly.
To be able to hold conversations infinitely, without getting bored, Ameca is based on artificial intelligence (AI), the technology that has been on everyone's lips in recent months since the irruption of ChatGPT. It is also the protagonist of this edition of Mobile, with all the stands presenting their proposals. "Everyone talks about AI," summarizes Young Lee of the South Korean telecommunications company LGUplus.
An adult MWC
This year, Mobile reaches its majority in Barcelona, where it landed in 2006 from Cannes. After 18 editions in the city, with a pandemic in between, the show has not only broadened its focus, being much more than just a mobile phone fair, but has also grown to become an international benchmark, asserting its position as a neutral ground in the technological battle between the United States and China. A feeling demonstrated by the bustling corridors of the L'Hospitalet de Llobregat venue, with rivers of congress attendees speaking with multiple accents, consolidating this year the return of Chinese attendees after the halt due to covid. With their return, it is expected to attract more than 95,000 congress attendees this 2024, still below the 109,000 in 2019. For now, according to the most visible face of Mobile, John Hoffman, this Monday saw the first day of the show register the largest public attendance in its history.
This evolution has also been experienced by Fira de Barcelona, for whom the MWC was the first major international event it hosted and marked a before and after in its global positioning. The director of Gastrofira, Emmanuelle Mazzarella, is one of the professionals who has followed from the front line throughout these years how the show grew, which has been a challenge and an opportunity for the catering that the fair institution prepares for exhibitors. "Before Mobile, we had fewer international events and the service we provided was more standard. With its arrival, we began to offer a more tailored product, for larger stands, almost as if they were a small hotel, or for private meetings where very important deals were closed," she recalls.
In all these years, some of Gastrofira's first clients have disappeared, reflecting the changes in an industry that has not stopped changing. But, above all, the services they demanded have multiplied, from delivery services to personalized cocktails and coffees with the exhibitors' brand, as well as the quantity and variety of catering points in the fairgrounds. Currently, with more than 1,000 workers hired for the show, 5,500 services are scheduled for 30,000 diners. "MWC has taught us to reinvent ourselves. In addition, it is a letter of introduction for other shows," Mazzarella remarks, also managing to attract corporate events from technological multinationals.