Search

MWC Shanghai: Gadget companies gather for rare pandemic tech expo - BBC News

MWC Shanghai
Getty Images

China is hosting one of the few in-person technology trade shows since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 200 companies and about 20,000 people are expected to attend Mobile World Congress Shanghai.

But the three-day event has been scaled back from previous years - 60,000 were at the last MWC Shanghai, in 2019.

Faces masks are obligatory at the show. And exhibitors have been told they must observe "strict" capacity limits at their stands.

MWC Shanghai
Getty Images

The event's organiser said the combination of Covid-prevention measures and the country's vibrant technology sector meant it was the only place that could host such an exhibition at this time.

"We believe this congress will help strengthen the confidence of the global industry," GSMA trade association head of Greater China Sihan Bo Chen added.

Under-screen camera

The trade show takes place against the backdrop of continuing US-China trade tensions.

Qualcomm stand
Getty Images

At Huawei's keynote address, chairman Ken Hu said it had managed only slight growth over the past year.

President Donald Trump's administration put the company on an export blacklist in 2019 and cut off its access to computer chip manufacturers in 2020.

"Huawei was confronted with some extraordinary difficulties," Mr Hu said.

The show also comes at a time that other attendees - including US chip designer Qualcomm - have warned they face-chip supply issues of their own because demand is outstripping supply.

But it is also an opportunity to show off innovations.

ZTE Axon 30
ZTE

So far, these have included:

  • ZTE's Axon 30 smartphone - its second attempt to make a phone with a selfie camera hidden under the display, after the original was criticised for relatively poor-quality photos
  • Oppo's 125-watt flash charger, which the company says can fully recharge a smartphone in 20 minutes
  • Huawei's foldable Mate X2 handset - the company has switched to a design pioneered by Samsung but says it has found a way to close the device so both sides lie flat against each other rather than there being a gap around the hinge
Mate X2
EPA

The GSMA is still hoping to host a version of MWC in Barcelona at the end of June, when it plans to require visitors to have tested negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of arriving at the venue.

But some have doubts.

"With the current situation, it's hard to see many people being both willing and able to travel until later in 2021," Opensignal analyst Ian Fogg tweeted.

"September maybe, June is much more iffy."

Robot coffee-maker
Getty Images

And there is still a question mark over some of the year's other big technology showcases, with growing speculation Los Angeles' E3 video-games expo will be limited to virtual live-streamed content.

Banner image reading 'more about coronavirus'
Banner

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Article From & Read More ( MWC Shanghai: Gadget companies gather for rare pandemic tech expo - BBC News )
https://ift.tt/37GJzlN
Gadget

Bagikan Berita Ini

0 Response to "MWC Shanghai: Gadget companies gather for rare pandemic tech expo - BBC News"

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.