Flip Phones, AI, Naturally Dumb Glasses, and Enhanced Audio: MWC 2024 Major Impressions

What is like to explore audio technologies in the massive show that is Mobile World Congress. A report from MWC 2024 in Barcelona from an audio product development perspective. Audio for mobile platforms, wireless technologies, wearables and true wireless earbuds and hearables. And lot's of AI! MWC 2024 has nearly returned to pre-pandemic size levels, closing with 101,000 attendees from 205 countries.

Demand for wearables and accessories slowed during 2021 due to economic and geopolitical factors impacting consumer's priorities. Despite this decline, global technology intelligence firm ABI Research expects continuous growth until 2027. More than 300 million wearables devices were shipped by the end of 2021 and will reach around 344 million by the end of this year. Additionally, more than 650 million of these devices are expected to be shipped worldwide by 2027, a CAGR of 13.2% between 2022 and 2027.

Semtech Corporation, a leading global supplier of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, and Sierra Wireless, a connectivity and cellular solutions provider, confirmed the intention to combine the two companies. Semtech will acquire Sierra Wireless, aiming to bring together the ultra-low power benefits of LoRa with higher bandwidth capabilities of cellular technologies, and create a comprehensive platform for connected devices.

According to data from the GSMA, the world will see 3.2 billion cellular Internet-of-Things (IoT) connections in 2024. That is, billions of connected devices of all types in homes, companies, and cities. Qualcomm Technologies is already a leading supplier of wireless connectivity chipsets and they now announced a breakthrough new product to drive the growth of cellular IoT: the Qualcomm 212 LTE IoT Modem, introduced as the world’s most power-efficient single-mode NB2 (NB-IoT) chipset.

Sennheiser announced at InfoComm (Las Vegas) the creation of a new competence center for innovative streaming solutions, Sennheiser Streaming Technology GmbH (SST). The subsidiary is based in Hamburg and is initially focusing on low-latency streaming to cellular devices.