3 biggest trends at MWC19 Barcelona

After CES 2019 comes the next anticipated big event in the tech world, the Mobile World Congress. MWC19 Barcelona with the tagline of "Intelligent Connectivity" is set to take place on February 25 to 28.

With plenty of exciting releases to be showcased by MWC exhibitors, including Huawei, OnePlus and Nokia, the smartphone game seems to be up again after the past years' innovation drought. The mobile electronics industry also has a lot of new trends to look forward to. Here are the top three mobile trends to watch out for:

1. Foldable phones – In this saturated mobile market, manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to make their products stand out, and Samsung and Huawei are no exceptions. Last November 2018, Samsung teased its foldable phone that sports an "Infinity Flex Display." It is said to open as a tablet and close as a phone. And with Huawei's goal to take Samsung's spot as the number one smartphone brand, the former is set to release its own foldable phone with 5G capabilities. According to ET News as cited in tomsguide, the phone will be bezel-less, and it will measure 8in when opened, and 5in when folded. There are also rumors that we might also get a glimpse of the prototype of Xiaomi's own foldable phone.

2. 5G connectivity – 5G is indeed the future of cellular connectivity. It is said to be around twenty times faster than 4G LTE. 5G will pave way to more efficiency, better voice and video calls, faster download, streaming and upload speed, and highly improved signal strength. With 5G connection becoming the future norm in the coming years, Huawei and OnePlus aim to be one of the first mobile brands to roll out this new technology. They will be showing each of their prototypes at the event.

3. Multi rear-camera design – Dual rear lens cameras became a trend in 2017. But this 2019, makers are stepping it up even further by releasing phones with three to five cameras. This design will mean more features that will give consumers the opportunity to customize their preferred photos such as taking wide-angled shots and zooming even further without undermining the image quality too much.Twitter leaker Evan Blass posted a render of the Nokia 9 PureView sporting five camera lenses juxtaposed in a circular position. According to a leak cited by tomsguide, these multiple lenses will be able to "capture 10 pictures of varying light intake and use software to merge them together to create super rich and dynamic snaps." We’ll have to wait and see at the event how the complete set-up works. On the other hand, Huawei's upcoming P30 and P30 Pro series will reportedly have three and four rear cameras, respectively.

Importers and consumers can follow these new trends when importing the hottest smartphones from
manufacturers in Asia. Similar innovations are already emerging and are ready for sourcing.