Chinese tech firms wow MWC 2022

Chinese tech companies are shining at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2022, a major telecom industry event in Barcelona, Spain, as they showcase their latest technologies to seek a wider presence in Europe and beyond.

The three-day event attracted more than 50 Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies Co, Oppo, Lenovo Group Ltd, and Honor Device Co Ltd, which are displaying their latest offerings such as premium smartphones, flash-charging technologies and upgraded 5G portfolios.

Oppo, for instance, showcased its 240-watt flash charging technology that can charge 4,500 milliampere-hour batteries in nine minutes, which is the world's fastest phone charging.

Despite the very high power output of 240 watts, Oppo said it conforms to standards for heat dissipation. By taking a holistic approach to the safety of the adapter, charging cable and the handset, Oppo said it minimizes potential safety hazards and risks, providing efficient and secure charging solutions.

Billy Zhang, vice-president of overseas sales and service at Oppo, said the company wants to use innovation and collaboration to collectively overcome challenges with its partners.

Oppo saw fast growth in overseas markets such as Europe last year, according to market research company Canalys. And as a pioneer in 5G, Oppo has ranked as the world's second-largest Android 5G smartphone brand for two consecutive years.

On the sidelines of the MWC, Honor also unveiled its latest premium smartphone, the Honor Magic 4 series, as it showcased its ambition to make a big splash in the global high-end smartphone market this year.

Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor, said the company has more than 11,000 employees, and half of them are in research and development. And it now has six R&D centers outside China with two of them located in France and Japan.

"We also have more than 100 innovation laboratories, and established cooperation with more than 200 telecom operators and distributors across the world. All of these resources will get us ready to expand our global presence," Zhao said.

Huawei also seized the opportunity of the MWC to highlight its plan to continue its globalization strategy and increase its strategic investment in foundational technologies.

Guo Ping, rotating chairman of Huawei, said the company hopes to reshape the fundamental theories, architecture and software that underpin its industry, increase its mid to long-term competitiveness and ensure the longer-term sustainability of the information and communications technology industry.

Huawei showcased a string of cutting-edge 5G items, low-carbon products and services, as well as a suite of smart office products.

Lenovo Group Ltd also unveiled its latest PC products at the exhibition, as the COVID-19 pandemic put PCs once again under the global spotlight. The company introduced the latest updates to its ThinkPad T series portfolio to address the productivity and collaboration needs of a widely diversified workforce.

The move came after global shipments of PCs in 2021 hit their highest level since 2012 to reach 348.8 million units, up 14.8 percent year-on-year, according to market research company International Data Corp.

Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said Chinese companies are leveraging the MWC to build up their high-end brand image.