Mobile World Congress
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Mobile World Congress (MWC, officially MWC Barcelona) is an annual mobile industry trade show organized by the GSMA and held in Barcelona, Spain. The event traces its origins to a 1987 conference in Brussels on the system that became GSM, was held in Cannes from 1996 to 2005, and moved to Barcelona in 2006 as the 3GSM World Congress. It took the name Mobile World Congress in 2008 and was rebranded as MWC in 2019.[1][2][3] Since 2013 it has taken place at the Fira Gran Via exhibition center in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, next to Barcelona.[2][4]
The show centers on the mobile and telecommunications industry, but since the mid-2010s it has also been a venue for virtual reality and augmented reality hardware. HTC and Valve announced the HTC Vive at the 2015 show, Samsung brought Mark Zuckerberg on stage at its 2016 Galaxy launch to promote the Gear VR, and Microsoft introduced the HoloLens 2 and the Azure Kinect developer kit at its MWC press event in 2019.[5][6][7] Many of the XR products shown at recent editions have been smart glasses and Android XR devices. The 2026 edition, MWC26 Barcelona, ran from 2 to 5 March 2026 and the GSMA reported nearly 105,000 attendees.[8][9]
History
Origins and Cannes (1987-2005)
According to a history published by Telefonica, the event is considered to have begun in 1987 in Brussels with a conference on "Pan Europe Digital Cellular Radio", although that meeting did not yet have the format of the later show. The 1990 GSM World Congress in Rome was closer to the modern event. The congress then moved between cities, including Nice, Lisbon, Athens, Berlin and Madrid (1995), before settling in Cannes in 1996, where it stayed for ten editions until 2005.[1] The GSMA came into being in 1995 as the GSM MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) Association.[1]
Barcelona (2006-2019)
In 2006 the 3GSM World Congress moved from Cannes to Barcelona and was held at Fira Montjuic, with about 50,000 attendees that year. The GSMA's retrospective lists the name Mobile World Congress from 2008. Attendance passed 60,000 in 2010 and reached 67,000 in 2012, the last year at Montjuic. In 2013 the show moved to Fira Gran Via, with more than 72,000 visitors and 1,700 exhibitors.[2]
The GSMA's retrospective also records the arrival of XR on the show floor. It describes VR headsets and 360-degree cameras spreading through the 2016 show, and VR, AR and connected-car prototypes being demonstrated in 2017.[2] Attendance passed 100,000 in 2016 and was 108,000 in 2017 and 107,000 in 2018.[2]
On 25 September 2018 the GSMA announced that its event series would be rebranded from "Mobile World Congress" to "MWC". Michael O'Hara of the GSMA called it "the first major brand update for our global event portfolio in over a decade", and the association said the new brand kept the familiar acronym "while placing less emphasis on 'mobile'". The 2019 events were named MWC19 Barcelona, MWC19 Shanghai and MWC19 Los Angeles, and MWC19 Barcelona took place from 25 to 28 February 2019.[3]
Cancellation and hybrid return (2020-2021)
On 12 February 2020 the GSMA cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020, citing "global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances". Before the cancellation, companies including Amazon, Ericsson, Intel, LG, Sony, Nvidia and Facebook had already said they would not attend.[10]
The show returned in a smaller hybrid form. MWC21 was held at Fira Gran Via from 28 June to 1 July 2021, combining in-person and virtual elements.[11] In its closing release the GSMA reported more than 20,000 in-person attendees and about 100,000 unique virtual and daily viewers, from around 165 countries and territories.[12]
Recent editions (2022-present)
Attendance recovered to 101,000 in 2024 and 109,000 in 2025, according to the GSMA.[2] MWC26 Barcelona, which the GSMA said marked 20 years of the event in Barcelona, recorded nearly 105,000 attendees from 207 countries and territories, with 2,900 exhibitors, sponsors and partners and nearly 2,600 journalists and industry analysts.[9] The next edition, MWC Barcelona 2027, is scheduled for 1 to 4 March 2027 at Fira Gran Via.[4]
Format
MWC Barcelona is held over four days. The 2019 edition ran from 25 to 28 February, and the 2027 edition is scheduled for 1 to 4 March.[3][4] Its organizer is the GSMA, which is based in London.[4] Manufacturers also hold their own launch events in Barcelona around the show: Samsung's Galaxy S7 Unpacked event in 2016 was held just ahead of MWC, and Microsoft introduced HoloLens 2 at a press event opening MWC Barcelona 2019.[6][7] In 2026 the co-located 4YFN startup event had more than 1,000 exhibitors.[9]
| Year | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Fira Montjuic | About 50,000[2] |
| 2007 | Fira Montjuic | 55,000 visitors, 1,300 exhibitors[2] |
| 2010 | Fira Montjuic | More than 60,000[2] |
| 2012 | Fira Montjuic | 67,000[2] |
| 2013 | Fira Gran Via | More than 72,000 visitors, 1,700 exhibitors[2] |
| 2015 | Fira Gran Via | Nearly 100,000[2] |
| 2016 | Fira Gran Via | More than 100,000[2] |
| 2017 | Fira Gran Via | 108,000[2] |
| 2018 | Fira Gran Via | 107,000[2] |
| 2020 | Cancelled[10] | |
| 2021 | Fira Gran Via (hybrid) | More than 20,000 in person[12] |
| 2024 | Fira Gran Via | 101,000[2] |
| 2025 | Fira Gran Via | 109,000[2] |
| 2026 | Fira Gran Via | Nearly 105,000[9] |
Virtual and augmented reality at MWC
On 1 March 2015, during that year's show, HTC announced a partnership with Valve and unveiled the HTC Vive. Under the deal Valve supplied its SteamVR tracking and input technology and HTC handled design and engineering. HTC said a Developer Edition would follow in spring 2015 and a consumer edition by the end of that year.[5] A year later, at MWC 2016, HTC announced the US$799 consumer edition of the Vive, with pre-orders from 29 February 2016 and shipping in early April.[13]
Samsung used its Barcelona launches to promote mobile VR. At its Unpacked event for the Galaxy S7, held just ahead of MWC 2016, the audience was wearing Gear VR headsets when Mark Zuckerberg walked on stage. He told them "We are working with Samsung to make VR affordable". At the same event Samsung announced the Gear 360 camera and said Galaxy S7 pre-orders in the United States and Europe would include a free Gear VR.[6] In 2017 Oculus revealed the Gear VR with Controller shortly before Samsung's MWC event, adding a single-handed motion controller with a touchpad and trigger.[14]
At Microsoft's press event opening MWC Barcelona 2019, Julia White, Satya Nadella and Alex Kipman presented the HoloLens 2 at US$3,500, with pre-orders opening that day, together with the US$399 Azure Kinect Developer Kit, a preview of the Dynamics 365 Guides app, the Azure Spatial Anchors and Azure Remote Rendering previews, and the Trimble XR10 hard hat built on HoloLens 2. Mozilla said it would bring a Firefox Reality prototype to HoloLens 2, and Epic Games said Unreal Engine 4 support was coming to HoloLens.[7]
Several XR products shown at recent editions have been glasses. Xiaomi showed a prototype called the Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition in 2023, RayNeo used MWC 2025 to unveil the RayNeo Air 3s, and in 2026 Google let visitors try prototype Android XR glasses with a display in the right lens.[15][16][17]
| Year | Company | Announcement or demonstration |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | HTC, Valve | HTC Vive announced on 1 March 2015; Developer Edition promised for spring 2015 and a consumer edition by the end of 2015[5] |
| 2015 | Samsung | Gear VR Innovator Edition for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, built with Oculus and 15% smaller than the previous model[18][19] |
| 2016 | HTC | HTC Vive consumer edition priced at US$799, pre-orders from 29 February, shipping in early April[13] |
| 2016 | Samsung, Facebook | Galaxy S7 Unpacked with Mark Zuckerberg on stage; Gear 360 camera announced; free Gear VR with Galaxy S7 pre-orders[6] |
| 2016 | LG | LG 360 VR headset (118 g, connects to the LG G5 over USB-C) and the 360 CAM dual-lens camera[20] |
| 2017 | Samsung | Gear VR with Controller, with a single-handed controller that has a touchpad, trigger and motion tracking[14] |
| 2018 | HTC | HTC Vive Pro demonstrations, with the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter also at the booth; the Vive Pro price had not been announced[21] |
| 2019 | Microsoft | HoloLens 2 (US$3,500) and Azure Kinect Developer Kit (US$399) introduced at a press event opening the show[7] |
| 2019 | HTC | HTC Vive Focus Plus, adding two six-degrees-of-freedom controllers to the Vive Focus, announced on 21 February and shown at MWC[22] |
| 2019 | Nreal | Nreal Light AR glasses demonstrated (85 g, 52-degree field of view); no price or release date given[23] |
| 2019 | Varjo | Varjo VR-1 demonstrated[24] |
| 2022 | HTC | Viverse metaverse vision presented by CEO Cher Wang, with VIVE Browser, VIVE Connect, VIVE Guardian and an in-car VR collaboration with Holoride[25] |
| 2023 | Xiaomi | Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition prototype (Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1, 126 g, 58 pixels per degree)[15] |
| 2024 | RayNeo | TCL RayNeo X2 standalone AR glasses shown as a prototype[26] |
| 2025 | RayNeo | RayNeo Air 3s unveiled; RayNeo X3 Pro and RayNeo V3 also shown[16] |
| 2025 | Samsung | Project Moohan Android XR headset (later named the Samsung Galaxy XR) shown while still in development, with no price or release date[27][28][29] |
| 2026 | Prototype Android XR glasses with a waveguide display in the right lens, demonstrated to visitors[17][30] | |
| 2026 | XGIMI | MemoMind One AI glasses demonstrated, with pre-orders planned for April 2026[8] |
At MWC 2026 Google told heise online that this was the first time it had made the glasses available to a wider audience. It named Samsung, Warby Parker and Gentle Monster as the eyewear makers that will sell Android XR glasses, and said the first models would launch in 2026.[17]
Other MWC events
The GSMA also runs MWC-branded events outside Barcelona. In 2019 the series consisted of MWC Barcelona, MWC Shanghai and MWC Los Angeles.[3] In its MWC26 closing release of March 2026 the GSMA listed MWC Kigali (16-18 June 2026), MWC Shanghai (24-26 June 2026) and MWC Doha (8-11 November 2026) as its next events.[9] On 2 June 2026 the GSMA postponed MWC26 Kigali and said a new date would be announced in due course.[31]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Communication Team (2024-02-24). "MWC: origin, history and curiosities of the Mobile World Congress". Telefonica. https://telefonica.com/en/communication-room/blog/mwc-origin-history-and-curiosities-of-the-mobile-worldcongress. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 "20 years of MWC Barcelona". MWC Barcelona. GSMA. https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/20-years. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "GSMA Reveals First Details for MWC19 Barcelona". GSMA Newsroom. GSMA. 2018-09-25. https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-reveals-first-details-for-mwc19-barcelona/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "About MWC Barcelona". MWC Barcelona. GSMA. https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/about. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "HTC and Valve Partner to Make Virtual Reality Dream Come True". Mynewsdesk. HTC. 2015-03-01. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/fi/htc/pressreleases/htc-and-valve-partner-to-make-virtual-reality-dream-come-true-1123521. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Roberta Prescott (2016-02-22). "Zuckerberg advocates for virtual reality at Samsung Unpacked 2016". RCR Wireless News. https://www.rcrwireless.com/20160222/devices/mark-zuckerberg-advocates-for-virtual-reality-at-samsung-unpacked-2016-tag5. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Julia White (2019-02-24). "Microsoft at MWC Barcelona: Introducing Microsoft HoloLens 2". The Official Microsoft Blog. Microsoft. https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2019/02/24/microsoft-at-mwc-barcelona-introducing-microsoft-hololens-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "XGIMI's Incubated MemoMind One AI Glasses to Be Showcased at MWC 2026". XGIMI. 2026-03-02. https://us.xgimi.com/blogs/news/memomind-ai-glasses-showcased-at-mwc-2026. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "GSMA MWC26 Barcelona closes 20th anniversary edition". GSMA Newsroom. GSMA. 2026-03-05. https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-mwc26-barcelona-closes-20th-anniversary-edition. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Stephen Hall (2020-02-12). "Mobile World Congress 2020 has been cancelled over coronavirus concerns". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2020/02/12/mobile-world-congress-2020-has-been-cancelled-over-coronavirus-concerns/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "GSMA Reveals Virtual Event Details Welcoming a New Era of Connected Impact at MWC Barcelona". MWC Barcelona. GSMA. 2021-06-16. https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/articles/gsma-reveals-virtual-event-details-welcoming-a-new-era-of-connected-impact-at-mwc-barcelona. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "GSMA Celebrates the Return of MWC Barcelona". GSMA Newsroom. GSMA. 2021-07-06. https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-celebrates-the-return-of-mwc-barcelona/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Abner Li (2016-02-21). "HTC announces $799 Vive Consumer Edition, pre-orders begin Feb 29 with early April ship date". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2016/02/21/vive-consumer-edition/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Jamie Feltham (2017-02-26). "New Gear VR Revealed, Controller Confirmed". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/new-gear-vr-revealed-controller-confirmed/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ivan Mehta (2023-02-27). "Xiaomi unveils lightweight AR glasses with 'retina-level' display". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/27/xiaomi-unveils-lightweight-ar-glasses-with-retina-level-display. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "RayNeo Unveils Next-Gen XR Glasses RayNeo Air 3s at MWC 2025". PR Newswire. RayNeo. 2025-03-03. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rayneo-unveils-next-gen-xr-glasses-rayneo-air-3s-at-mwc-2025-302389792.html. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Andreas Floemer (2026-03-02). "Android XR: Briefly tried out Google's smart glasses with integrated display". heise online. https://www.heise.de/en/news/Android-XR-Briefly-tried-out-Google-s-smart-glasses-with-integrated-display-11195341.html. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "Samsung Expands its Unrivaled Mobile Virtual Reality Experience with Gear VR Innovator Edition for Galaxy S6 and S6 edge". Samsung Mobile Press. Samsung Electronics. 2015-03-02. https://www.samsungmobilepress.com/articles/samsung-expands-its-unrivaled-mobile-virtual-reality-experience-with-gear-vr-innovator-edition-for-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Farhan (2015-03-02). "MWC 2015: Samsung Introduces Gear VR Innovator Edition For Galaxy S6 And S6 Edge". Lowyat.NET. https://lowyat.net/2015/03/samsung-introduces-gear-vr-innovator-edition-for-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2016-02-21). "LG Reveals Mobile VR Headset '360 VR' for G5 and New 360 Camera". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/lg-reveals-mobile-vr-headset-360-vr-g5-new-360-camera/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2018-02-25). "Here's What HTC Is Showing on Vive Pro And More At MWC 2018". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/heres-htc-vive-showing-mwc-2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "HTC VIVE Announces VIVE Focus Plus For Premium Standalone VR Experiences". VIVE Newsroom. HTC. 2019-02-21. https://www.vive.com/us/newsroom/2019-02-21/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2019-03-06). "Nreal's Promise Of True AR Sunglasses Could Be The Real Deal". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/nreal-impressions/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2019-03-01). "Varjo VR-1 Gave Me A Tantalizing Glimpse Of Human-Eye VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/varjo-vr-1-impressions/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Matthias Bastian (2022-02-28). "MWC 2022: HTC presents Metaverse vision and new products". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/mwc-2022-htc-presents-metaverse-vision-and-new-products/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Daniel Trock (2024-03-06). "MWC 2024 Innovation Spotlight: TCL RayNeo X2". SlashGear. https://www.slashgear.com/1533035/mwc-2024-innovation-spotlight-tcl-rayneo-x2. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Abner Li (2025-03-02). "Samsung unveiling 'Project Moohan' Android XR headset at MWC 2025". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2025/03/02/samsung-android-xr-mwc-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "VR and AR Innovations Unveiled at MWC 2025". LEDinside. TrendForce. 2025-04-11. https://www.ledinside.com/node/35127. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2025-10-21). "Samsung's Long-awaited Vision Pro Competitor Gets Price, Specs & Release Date". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/samsung-galaxy-xr-headset-price-specs-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ Menaka Shroff (2026-03-02). "Learn about our Android and Google AI updates at MWC Barcelona". The Keyword. Google. https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/platforms/android/android-mwc-barcelona-2026/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
- ↑ "MWC26 Kigali postponed". MWC Kigali. GSMA. 2026-06-02. https://mwckigali.com/articles/mwc26-kigali-postponed. Retrieved 2026-10-11.