No more double-digit growth rates in mobile telephony: in 2022, global smartphone sales fell by 11.3% to 1.21 billion units, the "lowest number since 2013", according to the specialized agency IDC.

And the outlook remains gloomy for a large part of "high tech" products.

According to the American research firm Gartner, sales of mobile phones, tablets and computers are expected to fall again by 4% this year.

“The sector is going through a complicated moment,” admits Thomas Husson, analyst at Forrester.

A climate of nature according to him to "weigh" on the mobile fair, annual high mass of new technologies, scheduled until Thursday in the Catalan capital.

The global smartphone market © Ayoub SIMOUR / AFP

At the origin of these difficulties: the climate of uncertainty born of the war in Ukraine, which has boosted inflation and trimmed the purchasing power of households, but also more structural factors, which manufacturers face.

"In certain regions such as Western Europe, the individual equipment rate is around 90%: we are therefore in mature markets. And the renewal rate is getting longer because people keep their phones longer", emphasizes Thomas Husson.

80,000 visitors

Faced with these difficulties, aggravated by the waves of giant job cuts announced by the giants of "tech", such as Alphabet, Microsoft and Ericsson, the Salon nevertheless intends to display its optimism.

During the discussions, "the emphasis will be placed on the need to get through" this difficult period as well as possible", by projecting on "the inevitable return to growth" and the progress linked to "innovation", predicts Ben Wood, from CCS Insight.

According to the World Association of Telecom Operators (GSMA), which organizes the event, 80,000 professionals and 2,000 companies will participate in the MWC, whose eight pavilions will be occupied for the first time since the pandemic.

This attendance remains far from the record of 2019, where nearly 110,000 people made the trip, but is higher by a third than the 60,000 visitors of the 2022 edition, affected by the persistence of restrictions linked to Covid-19.

A person drives a scooter in front of a poster placed at the entrance to the Mobile World Fair (MWC) in Barcelona (Spain) on February 22, 2023 © Josep LAGO / AFP

“We are on the way” to a return to normal, assured the executive director of GSMA, John Hoffman, during a press conference.

A dynamic linked to the strong comeback of Chinese groups after the reopening of the borders announced at the end of December by Beijing.

Huawei in force

Among the companies expected are telephony giants (Samsung, Xiaomi, Ericsson, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, etc.) but also "tech" and industrial heavyweights, such as Qualcomm, Airbus and Microsoft, the MWC having in recent years has expanded its audience.

The largest exhibitor this year will be the Huawei group, the figurehead of Chinese telecoms, which will have an area of ​​11,000 m2 - a record in the history of the show, according to the GSMA, an organization bringing together nearly 750 manufacturers and operators of telecoms.

The opportunity for the giant of equipment made in China to display its "resilience in the face of American sanctions", which have greatly weakened its telephony branch without stifling its "capacity for innovation" in business services, underlines Thomas Husson .

The themes highlighted during this 17th edition are intended to be resolutely turned towards the future, between "artificial intelligence", "cloud of the future" and discussions on "6G".

Before even projecting themselves into 6G, operators will be keen to put on the table the question of the return on investment for 5G, into which pharaonic sums have been injected.

A man takes a picture during a presentation of the Xiaomi company at the Mobile World Fair (MWC) in Barcelona (Spain) on February 26, 2023 © Pau BARRENA / AFP

Operators have long defended the contribution of Internet giants, such as Netflix or Amazon, large consumers of bandwidth.

But they strongly oppose it.

In recent months, the operators have garnered “political support”, especially from the European Commission, underlines Dario Talmesio, analyst at Omdia, who expects to see them redouble their efforts to win their case.

© 2023 AFP