Samsung, Huawei, LG launched 5G phones with a foldable twist; 5G acceleration set to drive strong connection growth; Mobile SD-WAN will ease transition to 5G; Lenovo released its first smart EMM solution

Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019) - From Monday 25th to Thursday 28th February, over 2,400 leading companies and 107,000 attendees will come together at Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuic to discuss the latest innovations and explore the hottest topics influencing the industry.

Strategy Analytics has a large team of analysts across IoT,  Mobile Enterprise, Smartphones, Drones, Robots, Tablets, Wearables, Components, Smart home and connected cars in attendance. Too meet or follow-up with our Mobile Enterprise analysts, please get in touch here

MWC Barcelona offers an array of dazzling speakers representing organisations from across the broad mobile ecosystem. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Intelligent Connectivity’ – the term to describe the powerful combination of flexible, high-speed 5G networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. Intelligent connectivity marks the beginning of a new era defined by highly contextualised and personalised experiences, delivered when and where you want them. This is the future of our industry and our world.

Within Intelligent Connectivity, there are 8 core themes: Connectivity focuses on the business and cultural challenges brought forth by 5G; AI explores the profound impact of this new technology; Industry 4.0 lookes at the internet of things and Immersive Content focuses on the expectations of AR and VR. Meanwhile, Disruptive Innovation identifies the big changes of our future; Digital Wellness discusses mental health and smartphones, Digital Trust focuses on the ethics and regulations of data and ‘The Future’ envisions what the world will look like in 2028.

One of the biggest enterprise mobility trends for 2019 is 5G. Mobility leaders across all sectors were talking about the implications of 5G in the workplace.

Figure 1: Leading 5G Innovations at MWC 2019

The 5G revolution is nearly upon us. Samsung, for instance, already announced its Galaxy S10 5G on Feb. 20 at its Unpacked event, and more are expected to follow. The biggest initial wave of 5G deployment will likely take place in 2019 and 2020, and carriers everywhere are laying the groundwork to roll out a faster and more expansive wireless network. Huawei, and LG also launched 5G phones with a foldable twist.

Figure 2: Huawei Mate X foldable                                            

While it's true that many industries will benefit from faster connectivity -- self-driving cars, drones, virtual reality and the internet of things, to name a few -- most people will likely experience the benefits of a robust 5G network only through a 5G-enabled phone. US carrier Verizon launched its 5G broadband too, which will arrive in 30 cities by late 2019, and rival AT&T is selling a 5G hotspot router. AT&T is also catching heat (and getting sued) for displaying "5G E" connectivity on some of its phones, including iPhones, despite the fact that its network technology remains unchanged from 4G. Meanwhile, other companies have announced specific 5G goals.

As businesses aim to stay ahead of an increasingly digital economy, Verizon is expanding its offerings to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation to support future 5G capabilities. Verizon’s Virtual Network Services will support 5G devices on Cisco’s software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) platform, making it easier to manage network traffic and application performance across a wide area network on both public and private networks. Verizon and Cisco to extend Software-defined Networking to support future 5G mobile devices for enterprise. Verizon’s new Mobile SD-WAN will help enterprise customers quickly and easily transition to 5G, giving them an edge as we embrace the next generation of mobile connectivity.

Lenovo Connect released its first smart EMM solution called ThinkUEM (Unified End-point Management) at the product launch during MWC. ThinkUEM is an enterprise mobile endpoint management platform, it enables the control of multiple device models, multiple brand manufacturers and multiple operating systems through one single platform. ThinkUEM removes the complexity from managing a multi OS, multi-vendor, and multi-purpose mobile ecosystem. Features include silent installation, remote support, reliable activation, big data support, and location-based services.

The opening keynote of MWC19 saw the world’s leading operators, including Vodafone’s new CEO Nick Read, discuss how they continue to push the boundaries of technological innovation through 5G, AI, IoT, and Big Data. Speakers also discussed the regulatory environment required to ensure operators are able to deploy these technologies, and the strategies, business models and internal systems needed to ensure they deliver on their promise. All within the context of their wider social and environmental responsibilities.

Be sure to check back here tomorrow for more highlights from the Strategy Analytics Enterprise Mobility Team at MWC 2019.