MWC (Mobile World Congress) is historically a massive trade show with a big focus on mobile devices, but in the last couple of years the ‘massive’ part of that description hasn’t so much applied.
In 2021, thanks to the pandemic it was far smaller than normal and largely online, while in 2020 it didn’t happen at all.
MWC 2022 then could be a return to some sort of normality for the event, as it’s currently planned to happen, and to have a physical presence in Barcelona as usual.
But this will of course all depend on how the world looks closer to the time, and with some uncertainty still in the air, we wouldn’t expect it to be as big as it once was. Indeed, Sony has now pulled out of the physical event, and it's possible that other companies may follow – though Huawei in contrast has confirmed it plans to attend.
Below, you’ll find everything that we’ve heard or suspect about MWC 2022 so far, including when it’s set to take place and what you might see there.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The biggest mobile tradeshow of 2022
- When is it? February 28 – March 3
When are the MWC 2022 dates?
MWC 2022 takes place from February 28 to March 3. It’s being held in Barcelona as usual, though we’d expect there might be a heightened online presence again, as there was last year, with the physical show perhaps being smaller than in some previous years.
It’s worth noting that depending on the situation with COVID-19, it’s always possible that MWC 2022 could be delayed, canceled, or moved purely online. But given that it managed to go ahead in 2021, we wouldn’t think this will happen.
In January 2022, the organizers of the show confirmed to TechRadar that it still intends to go ahead with the in-person element of the show.
What to expect at MWC 2022
So far there hasn’t been much news about what might land at MWC 2022, but we can take some guesses based on previous years.
Samsung at MWC 2022
Samsung often unveils things at MWC, with it showing off its new smartwatch software (which you’ll find running on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4) at MWC 2021.
Some years it shows off phones and other hardware too, but what we haven’t seen from it in recent years is the launch of new Galaxy S phones at MWC. Instead, it typically launches these at a separate event – though sometimes at a similar point in the year.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 range is rumored to land in early February, so if that pans out it will appear slightly ahead of MWC.
Still, we saw new Galaxy A series models at MWC 2019, so perhaps there will be a similar showing at MWC 2022.
Sony at MWC 2022
Sony has confirmed that it won't have a physical presence at MWC 2022, saying “Sony Corporation has made the decision not to have its own stand at MWC 2022. As the world has largely shifted toward digital and online opportunities, Sony Corporation will communicate in ways that can bring our exciting product news to a wider audience.”
However, it's not totally clear from that whether the company won't announce anything at MWC, or whether it just won't do so on the showroom floor (going digital instead).
The company often does unveil flagships at MWC, with the Sony Xperia 1 for example landing at MWC 2019, alongside the Sony Xperia 10.
That said, we wouldn’t necessarily count on seeing the Sony Xperia 1 IV at MWC 2022, as the company didn’t show anything off at MWC 2021, instead announcing the Xperia 1 III separately in April.
That’s probably because 2021’s MWC was so much smaller, but given the April announcement of the Xperia 1 III, late February or early March when MWC 2022 happens might be a bit early for the Xperia 1 IV.
It’s certainly possible that it could show up though, and we might also or alternatively see the Xperia 10 IV. It’s worth noting however that Sony has a habit of unveiling its flagships months before you can buy them, so whenever we see the Sony Xperia 1 IV, it might not be available until quite a while later.
Nokia at MWC 2022
HMD Global under the Nokia brand was one of the biggest presences at MWC 2019, unveiling the flagship Nokia 9 PureView, so could we see the long-rumored Nokia 10 at MWC 2022? It’s certainly possible.
We wouldn’t get your hopes up, as no rumors point in that exact direction, but some leaks suggest it’s coming soon, so it could show up. Failing that, we might see some other new Nokia phones, but again, nothing is certain.
Huawei at MWC 2022
Huawei isn’t the force it once was in phones – at least outside China, but it’s still doing interesting things, and there’s a big chance some of those things could be shown off at MWC 2022, as the company has confirmed that it will be attending the event.
We wouldn’t expect to see the Huawei P60 there, since the Huawei P50 still isn’t available in the west yet, and since it hasn’t shown off its main flagships at MWC in recent years. But at MWC 2019 the brand did unveil the foldable Huawei Mate X, so it’s not out of the question that we could see a new foldable phone at MWC 2022 – perhaps the Huawei Mate X3.
In fact, given that the Huawei Mate X2 landed in late February of 2021, the timing would line up for that, though were that to be the case we’d think we’d have heard more about the X3 by now.
OnePlus at MWC 2022
We’re including OnePlus here simply because the timing of the OnePlus 9’s launch in March 2021 means that we could see the OnePlus 10 in early 2022 – in other words around the same time as MWC 2022.
But OnePlus doesn’t tend to have much of a presence at these shows, so we’d be very surprised if it did announce the OnePlus 10 there. For now, we wouldn’t count on seeing anything from OnePlus at MWC 2022.
Oppo at MWC 2022
It’s a similar story with Oppo as OnePlus, in that the Oppo Find X3 range launched in early 2021, so we could see the Oppo Find X4 range at MWC 2022.
Plus, Oppo did show up at MWC 2019, though it didn’t unveil anything significant, rather it just showed off some camera technology and mentioned a 5G phone that it was going to announce in the future.
So we’re not optimistic that we’ll see much from Oppo, but you never know.
Xiaomi at MWC 2022
Xiaomi has only become a major presence in the world of phones in the last few years, and before that it wasn’t much of a presence at MWC either. It did make an appearance at MWC 2019, but only to announce the western launch of the already-announced Xiaomi Mi 9.
We could potentially see a global launch of the Xiaomi 12 at MWC 2022 though (following an earlier Chinese launch which might happen around December). The rumored launch date of the Xiaomi 12 would work for that anyway.
Xiaomi also makes loads of other phones, including models in the Redmi and Poco lines, so there’s every chance something will show up.
Everything else
There are all sorts of other brands that might show up at MWC 2022, and some that almost certainly won’t. We’d be very surprised if Apple was there for example based on past form, and while Google might be present, we wouldn’t expect any significant announcements from it.
However, the likes of Honor, Motorola, TCL, Lenovo, Alcatel, Vivo and ZTE are all companies that could announce something there.
In fact, TCL and Lenovo were two of the biggest presences at the otherwise very quiet MWC 2021, with the former announcing the Alcatel 1, plus some smart glasses, and the TCL MoveTime Family Watch 2, while the latter unveiled various tablets, including the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13, Yoga Tab 11, Tab M7, Tab M8 and Tab P11 Plus. So more launches along those lines are a possibility at MWC 2022.
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