Trade shows are held in all major industries: construction, automotive, aviation, specialty equipment, broadcasting, and so forth.
Individually, though, none of them can compete with the tech sector in terms of sheer size. In addition to holding the largest trade show of all every year — the Consumer Electronics Show — the tech sector has dozens of other huge shows that deal with specific industries within the sector.
The part of the industry devoted to mobile technology has grown so big that there are actually multiple major trade shows dealing exclusively with smartphones, tablets, and mobile communications technology.
Barcelona, Spain plays home to one of them: the annual Mobile World Congress. This annual event serves as the grounds for big announcements and product launches for many of the biggest companies in the mobile tech sector.
2015’s Mobile World Congress has already yielded some doozies. Here are the ones most relevant to us:
1. Google is becoming a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)
Even if you don’t know what an MVNO is, the chances are good that you’ve dealt with one.
These are the wireless service providers that do not own their own network of cell towers. They lease capacity from companies that own the towers and build their own network of coverage out of them. TracFone, Cricket Wireless, Boost Mobile, Net10, and Wal-Mart Family Mobile are prime examples of MVNOs.
In the last five years, MVNOs have evolved into boutique carriers that offer very specialized coverage to very specific types of mobile users.
At Mobile World Congress 2015, Google exec Sundar Pichai confirmed that Google will be building one of these networks, too. With coverage reportedly leased from Sprint and T-Mobile, Google plans to offer its own subscription service on a “small scale” in a fashion similar to its Nexus hardware program.
Google has made slow progress of building out its own fiber-optic communications network, with a single Google Fiber deployment in Kansas City, Kansas. The company plans to expand into 34 cities in nine metropolitan areas altogether, and this year it will begin work in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, and Nashville.
By acquiring subscribers to its own wireless network and building its own fiber-optic network, it looks like Google is taking steps toward being a full-service provider akin to Verizon and AT&T.
2. Smartphones are firmly at the 20-megapixel mark
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC announced its newest handheld device called the HTC One M9. By most accounts, this phone is identical to HTC’s last “One” model, but it’s got a few major improvements under the hood that result in an overall boost to specs.
The whole machine is built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, and it has 3GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage. The camera sensor has been bumped up to 20 megapixels.
There have been a handful of smartphones with 20-megapixel cameras up to this point. The Sony Xperia Z1, the Nokia Lumia 1520, and the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom have all debuted in the last two years.
While pixel density is no measure of photo quality, it is an easy marker to know what optical sensor might be going into popular devices. This allows us to invest in component suppliers…
Here’s a hint: Toshiba.
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3. Virtual Reality: Yes, it’s still a thing
As dated as the term sounds, virtual reality is a technology only just coming into broader market adoption.
At Mobile World Congress 2015, Samsung showed off two new versions of its Gear VR head-mounted display, which are “powered” by Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) Oculus VR.
This display hit the markets in February, but it was only compatible with a single model Samsung phone. With these new models, we see that this might be Samsung’s strategy.
Each one is only compatible with a single phone model, which plugs into the front of the display like some kind of old-school video game cartridge.
The new models will hit the market in the $200 price range and will act as accessories rather than centralized peripherals for the consumption of content.
There are more announcements coming from the convention that will give us a better idea of the state of the industry. I’ll be following up with them. Keep your eyes open!
Good Investing,
Tim Conneally
For the last seven years, Tim Conneally has covered the world of mobile and wireless technology, enterprise software, network hardware, and next generation consumer technology. Tim has previously written for long-running software news outlet Betanews and for financial media powerhouse Forbes.
