MWC 2017: between retro and realism

The Finnish manufacturer HMD Global is at the head of the retro class and is bringing back the Nokia 3310. Its battery life is 22 hours when in constant use and one month (!!) in standby mode. The company will develop, manufacture and market the new devices under the Nokia name. Even the cult game "Snake" will already be installed on the phone.

HMD will be making a total of three mid-range models under the Nokia brand name. The former global market leader wants to get back to business. Since Nokia’s spectacular decline the market has grown enormously. Last year alone 1.5 billion smartphones were sold. Apple, based in California was the top seller, followed closely by Samsung.

Blackberry, the mobile phone pioneer, is also relying on the tried and tested: Its KEYone smartphone has a proper keyboard. It is the first new device from Blackberry since development and production of the phones has been in the hands of the Chinese company TCL (known for Alcatel) - and an attempt to regain a footing in the mobile market.

Normally Samsung presents the latest model of its Galaxy smartphone at the MWC. Not so this year. After the Note 7 debacle, Samsung stayed away from big gala presentations and only showed new tablets - like the Galaxy Tab S3. According to the group, there is still a lot of room for growth at the higher end of the market.

The Galaxy Book is a "convertible" - a tablet that works as a replacement for a laptop with an external keyboard. And what about the Galaxy S8? This is expected to come on the market in April. Other producers want to use this sales gap to their own advantage.

Huawei has great ambitions: The Chinese are taking aim at Samsung and its sales position. This year Huawei presented two new flagship models: The P10 and P10Plus are distinguished by their high-quality production and their cameras, which were built in cooperation with Leica. The mobile phones are also supposed to charge faster and have a battery life of two days.

Huawei's intelligent Watch Classic and Watch 2 have more than four gigabytes of data storage. Through Google Android Pay mobile payments are also possible. Via a nano SIM card in the more expensive Watch 2 model, it will be possible to call someone without using a smartphone.

The South Korean company LG is taking a new approach with an unusual 18:9 format. The G6 fits in one hand, but still has a large screen. The new flagship model should help the company back on the road to sales success again. Last year LG recorded a loss.

A big topic at the fair is also the mobile phone standard 5G. The industry is already raving about the super-fast data network. Sony's new flagship Xperia XZ is already fit for the networks of the future. But it will take years before the new standard works across the board and data can flow unimpeded.