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LifestyleGadgets

Smartphones in 2020: the big reveals expected at CES, Mobile World Congress

  • Huawei to use Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to unveil international version of its Honor V30 Pro, which won’t have Google core apps due to US ban
  • Another Chinese brand, Oppo, could hog the headlines at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with rumoured launch of Find X2; Realme, LG launches also set

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The Huawei section at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. The Chinese telecommunications giant is expected to show its confidence in the world’s appetite for handsets lacking Google’s core apps by unveiling the international version of its Honor V30 Pro at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. Photo: AFP
Ben Sin

The global rise of Chinese phone brands has thrown a monkey wrench into the smartphone business. They have breakneck release schedules, are willing to push industry trends, and tend to offer higher-specification handsets for less money than legacy electronic brands.

Sony, HTC and Motorola have become almost non-factors in the phone market; LG is losing relevance by the year; and Samsung has had to dilute its Galaxy branding with a string of budget A-series phones aimed at Southeast Asia and eastern Europe.

And what of Apple, the biggest legacy phone brand of them all? Slowing sales have forced the company increasingly to branch out into other businesses such as providing content services.

The changing tide will be particularly noticeable at the first two trade shows of 2020: Apple will make an official appearance at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the first time in 28 years. But it’s not there to show new hardware; rather, the company’s senior director of privacy, Jane Horvath, will speak on the importance of consumer privacy – something to which Apple has pivoted to distinguish itself from rivals.

Apple will have a formal presence at the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time since 1992 when it senior director of privacy, Jane Horvath (pictured), gives a speech about the importance of consumer privacy. Photo: courtesy of Facebook
Apple will have a formal presence at the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time since 1992 when it senior director of privacy, Jane Horvath (pictured), gives a speech about the importance of consumer privacy. Photo: courtesy of Facebook

While CES has traditionally not been a phone-heavy trade show, two major Chinese players will make a splash: Huawei sub-brand Honor will launch the international version of its V30 Pro, and OnePlus will unveil a concept device at the event, which runs from January 7 to 10.

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