Artificial intelligence is coming to the smartphone and it could change everything. That’s the key topic at Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile and communications trade show, which is back in Barcelona next week.
In recent years, MWC has become a broader technology show. However, this year the smartphone will be back on center stage as manufacturers pitch AI as the next game changer for mobile devices.
Apple
won’t be there—it will save its own AI announcements for its developers’ conference in June—but that means its rivals can try to steal a march on the iPhone maker. Here’s what we’ve seen so far and what to expect at MWC:
Samsung
Samsung Electronics
lost its position as the biggest smartphone maker by volume to Apple last year. The South Korean company is striking back with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, unveiled in January with a suite of AI software.
The S24 Ultra is already available for sale worldwide and
Samsung
said it recorded a double-digit increase in pre-order sales compared with its predecessor.
At MWC, Samsung will be showing off AI features such as live translation on the S24 Ultra and hoping to win over companies to get the smartphone for their employees.
AI-capable smartphones are expected to rise as a share of the global market from 5% in 2024 to 45% in 2027, according to research firm Canalys.
Alphabet’s
Google isn’t likely to unveil any new device at MWC, having introduced its Pixel 8 smartphone last October. However, there might be further insights into its AI strategy with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis appearing for a keynote discussion.
Google has already integrated AI into the Pixel 8 Pro, scaling down its Gemini model to a “Nano” version so it can work efficiently on the device with features such as summaries of recorded conversations.
It’s worth noting that Gemini Nano is also what is powering much of the AI on Samsung’s S24 smartphones. It will be interesting to hear how much the two companies promote their partnership and whether they intend to extend it to other types of devices.
Honor
China’s Honor was spun off from Huawei in 2020 and has grown rapidly, becoming the top-selling Chinese smartphone brand at points last year.
Its Magic 6 Pro smartphone is set for a global launch at MWC after being released in China in January. It comes with a 7-billion-parameter large language AI model on the device. That enables features such as short video creation using photos and footage stored on the smartphone, via voice prompts.
However, a more important aspect might be that Honor says the smartphone’s AI-powered operating system can predict a user’s intentions allowing them to switch between functions with a single swipe—e.g. moving an address sent in a messaging app into a ride-hailing app seamlessly.
“The development points towards future smartphones equipped with AI agent functions, altering the user experience and the dynamic between smartphone manufacturers and app developers,” analysts at Counterpoint Research wrote.
Qualcomm Technologies
No,
Qualcomm
isn’t getting directly into making smartphones. But, the chip maker is powering both Samsung and Honor’s AI phones with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor—as well as a more ambitious concept.
Qualcomm is partnering with Germany’s
Deutsche Telekom
—the largest shareholder of
T-Mobile US
—to present an app-free smartphone at MWC. The apps are replaced by an AI assistant controlled by voice and text.
If the concept works it would upend the mobile economy and likely sound alarm bells at Apple and its legion of app developers, although the device looks a way off being commercially available.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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