2013 Phone Expectations

Mobile World Congress 2013 is due to take place in Barcelona and is known for bringing forward new ideas and innovations from the main players of the smartphone market. So what can users expect to see this year?

New Sony Flagship Phone

Sony is expected to follow up the announcement of the Xperia Z with similar handsets which it will unveil at the congress as this has been the pattern for the manufacturer in the past. The handset managed to take all the praise at CES 2013 and further announcements will complement this. The handset is quad-core and waterproof as well as HD, which will make it one of the flagship handsets for the manufacturer.

Dual-Sim Phones with Unbreakable Screens

Samsung is now officially the world’s biggest producer of smartphones and has not yet announced any new devices. Their announcements at CES focussed on OLED technology. Smartphone watchers are expecting the manufacturer to showcase the dual-SIM Galaxy Duos which have been in development although they have a tendency to hold their own events for new handsets.

Surprises from Nokia

Nokia has had a very good year in 2012 but sales of its budget handsets have tended to do better than its top-end smartphones. Nokia prefer to launch new handsets at their own events rather than multi-company happenings like the MWC but there is expectation in the air and watchers believe that there might be something special coming from the Finnish firm.

New Blackberry Phones

BlackBerry is working on its BB10 operating system and it is fully expected that this will be the focus at MWC in 2013. There are to be a number of new handsets which are being produced for 2013 and one or more of these could easily make an appearance in Barcelona, but the company is sure to make BB10 its main point for the event.

New Huawei Phones

Huawei is a Chinese manufacturer and is rapidly gaining a good profile in the smartphone market. There have been recent announcements on the launch of two new handsets – the Ascend D2 and the Ascend Mate – and the company is due to use MWC to promote these even further.

New LG Software and Accessories

LG has enjoyed great success with the Google Nexus 4, formerly the LG Optimus G and as a result they are not expected to make any announcements about new handsets at the MWC although there is some speculation about this. Some watchers are expecting the company to focus on software and accessories instead.

More ZTE Phones

The Chinese company ZTE is known for its mid-range handsets but a number have not yet made it to the UK shelves. One of the announcements at last year’s event was the ZTE Era and this handset is not yet on sale. At CES ZTE announced the Grand S handset which is aimed at the top end of the market but reviewers are waiting to see if it makes it to general release.

You can also expect a flurry of announcements from smaller manufacturers and those who are producing accessories for the smartphones. Whatever happens there will certainly be plenty to think about and plenty to watch out for throughout the course of the year.

Phil Turner has not yet moved into the world of smartphones, managing perfectly well with his 3 phone on PAYG.