IFA 2019, otherwise known as Internationale Funkausstellung, officially kicks off from September 5th and will run through September 11th in Berlin, Germany. Most of the world’s major tech brands will be in Berlin for IFA to introduce a range of consumer electronic products.
As usual, Strategy Analytics has a team of analysts from our devices teams in attendance to cover key news and device introductions.
While the trade show officially starts tomorrow, a number of companies are eager to showcase their new devices and get out ahead of the chatter.
The first through the gate was ASUS, which introduced its newest gaming oriented smartphone, the ROG Phone 2 1TB Ultimate Edition. The ROG Phone 2 was introduced earlier this summer and was already the ultimate gaming smartphone, with impressive specs including a huge 6.59 inch 120Hz AMOLED display with 2340 x 1080 resolution and 240Hz touch sampling for low touch latency when using in-display controls while gaming. Other features of the ROG Phone 2 include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor with a clock speed of 2.96GHz and cooling via a 3D vapor chamber and vents on the phone’s housing (as well as a clip-on fan accessory). The standard version of the phone comes with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, while the Ultimate Edition gets 1TB of storage and the UFS 3.0 storage standard for faster read-write for loading games and video.
ASUS ROG Phone 2 Ultimate Edition
While many premium smartphones make great gaming devices, the explosion of online gaming, particularly multiplayer titles such as Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and Knives Out where speed and low-latency count. Mobile gaming is especially popular in China and other Asian markets, meaning that the market for a differentiated mobile gaming device is fast outgrowing its niche status. Currently ASUS leads in the specs battle, but other brands including Xiaomi, ZTE and others are also active in the space. The ASUS ROG Phone 2 is difficult to find outside of China, but with the release of the Ultimate Edition, more channels in American and European markets are expected to begin carrying the device.
LG is expected to introduce new phones or phone accessories at IFA 2019. It’s G8X, the first LG smartphone with an in-display fingerprint reader, is rumored to be set to debut at the show. The company is also likely to introduce a new phone accessory with multiple screens that can clip to an existing smartphone. Finally, the company will introduce its new K-series K50S and K40S smartphones at the show, with multiple cameras, more imaging features and improved displays.
Huawei won’t be introducing its Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro at IFA, saving that for a future event later in the month. However, its sister sub-brand Honor is likely to announce the western launch of its Honor 9X and 9X Pro which were launched in China earlier in the summer.
Samsung, TCL-Alcatel, HMD (Nokia), Sony and others are also expected to debut new devices at the show. Samsung is anticipated to show off its revised Galaxy Fold foldable display smartphone, while TCL-Alcatel is also expected to show its own concepts of what future foldables will be like.
Samsung Galaxy Fold
Whatever devices are shown at IFA over the next week, Strategy Analytics will be there to cover them.