The Japan Times - Tech sovereignty push to meet AI fever at Mobile World Congress

Here's what to look out for in the coming days:

- Who's who -

Around 109,000 business attendees will walk the halls of the convention centre, according to the GSMA mobile industry association, which has organised the MWC every year since 2006 in the Catalan capital.

On the political side, around 60 government ministers from around the world are expected on the floors, where more than 2,900 companies' stands will be showing off the latest smartphones and connected services.

Exhibitors include telecoms and smartphone giants like Samsung, Huawei, Nokia, Orange, Xiaomi or Honor and big tech heavyweights including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon.

One notable abstainer is Apple, which has never participated -- preferring to show off new products at its own worldwide events, with the next one taking place on Wednesday.

Highly anticipated speakers include Gwynne Shotwell, president of Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX.

Among the gadgets to watch out for, Chinese group Honor will show off the first "robot phone" powered by AI -- although plenty of other products will be on display for the first time.

- Race for sovereignty -

"Sovereign AI will be a big discussion item" at this year's MWC, GSMA analysts told journalists this week.

Telecoms have a key role to play in the blossoming of generative artificial intelligence, which requires vast quantities of data to circulate swiftly, reliably and securely over operators' networks.

Satellite connectivity for smartphones and other devices will also be a key topic in the shadow of debate over how Europe can stand apart from the US in the digital world.

This year, telecom companies are still working to extend 5G mobile coverage while "laying foundations that won't be ripped out when 6G arrives" with the next generation of connectivity, industry expert Paolo Pescatore said.

"It's all about the network."

- 'Remarkable resilience' for smartphones -

Global smartphone sales are picking up steam again, powered by a slew of new models offering innovative new features -- many of them from Chinese manufacturers.

More than 1.2 billion devices were sold in 2025, a 1.9 percent year-on-year increase, according to specialist data firm IDC.

"Despite a challenging year marked with tariffs volatility, supply chain disruption and persistent macroeconomic headwinds across several markets, the global smartphone market demonstrated remarkable resilience," IDC research director Nabila Popal said.

Beyond the commercial tensions that have buffeted global trade, device manufacturers are also facing massive increases in the price of memory chips, driven by heavy demand from companies building computing infrastructure to develop and power AI models.

In market share, Apple accounted for 19.7 percent of global smartphone sales in 2025, a nose ahead of Samsung at 19.1 percent.

China's top seller Xiaomi was in third place at 13.1 percent.

S.Suzuki--JT