MWC is in full flight and we are seeing all kinds of interesting news--Nokia's crazy camera phone (41MP, but Symbian!), HTC's brand launch for "one" devices, LG's quad core 3D device.
Here are the things I've been noticing from all the announcements:
Processors are becoming the new battleground. At first it was screens but now we see the core count and AP performance rising in prominence within the industry. The next six months will be make or break for NVDIA--can their Tegra deliver, can they support an on-time go to market? Their track record in tablets was not good and competing against Qualcomm means more than spyder tests. They have to show they can support partners in getting to commercial launch on time and bug free.
The biggest players no longer use these trade shows to drive news cycles. Samsung and Apple will have the most-watched, highest unit volume, heaviest advertised device launches this year and neither is talking about them at MWC. What is not there says volumes about Nokia and HTC efforts to leverage the event.
Screen definition technology is moving past the point of differentation for consumers. Just an opinion, but I don't see how anyone effectively markets around technology or size differentiation now that all players are pushing so hard. Huawei has two 4.5-inch screen devices, but still at resolution of 1280 by 720 pixel, while the LG Optimus 4X HD and the HTC One X both have 4.7-inch screens with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels. Blogs are reporting Samsung's new flagship at similar or better resolution.
Finally, everyone is anchoring on bringing best experiences in camera and music. For music I don't see how this wins against a full ecosystem experience such as iTunes (and no, Google music is not there yet). For camera, I have a hard time believing that will be a brand space you can defend beyond a product launch window.
It will be interesting to get a few months down the road and look back at Mobile World Congress and see what sticks.
