Analyst Take

It has been refreshing to see Honor push hard for the AI future and introduce something new to showcase that capability that goes beyond the typical formfactor seen on the market; the Robot Phone and ARRI camera introduces a new way smartphones can adapt AI capabilities. As per Research Director, Jan Stryak, he thought Honor highlighting the comparisons and interoperability with Apple devices is a clever way to expand the Android ecosystem.  The announcements also help to draw attention away from the Apple launches happening this week outside of MWC.

Source: Counterpoint Research

Xiaomi 17 series captures a strategic future with Leica Imagery

On Saturday, Xiaomi announced many devices from smartphones to e-scooters. The Xiaomi 17 series with Leica Imagery camera design and the exclusive Leica Leitzphone were highlights during the keynote. The Leica collaboration brings a large sensor camera to the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a 200-megapixel periscope camera. Outside of smartphones, the brand expands it’s AI footprint across verticals. Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi Pad 8 series, the Xiaomi Watch 5 and the Xiaomi Electric Scooter 6 Ultra.

Analyst Take

Similar to Honor, Xiaomi highlighted the cross-platform compatibility with Apple that boosts the accessibility of the devices to consumers without being locked to one OS ecosystem. Xiaomi still has an uphill battle in western regions to gain ‘flagship’ status among consumers. The partnership and marketing around German company, Leica Camera AG, in the Xiaomi 17 series and its own Lecia device brings familiarity and a premium feel to the Xiaomi 17 series. This partnership is reminiscent of the Hasselblad partnership that OnePlus had previously marketed in their devices, a good marketing tactic for an Asian OEM to become more familiar in the western premium space due to brand unfamiliarity.

Source: Xiaomi (mi.com)

Motorola scores its first book-type foldable and additional World Cup edition devices

Motorola announced the finalized Motorola Razr Fold at MWC, introducing a new competitor in the book-type foldable market with a comparable price to competitors, at €1,999 in Europe. Motorola also announced the edge 70 fusion and 2 additional World Cup special edition fold and edge devices. Outside of smartphones and the FIFA partnership, Motorola announced a partnership with GrapheneOS to further strengthen the enterprise segment and the moto buds 2 series.

Analyst Take

Motorola has had success with previous razr foldables, so the addition of the book-type is the next natural step to remain competitive in the fold formfactor space. Counterpoint Principal Analyst, Gerrit Schneemann, attended the launch and said “Motorola is continuing to focus on fashion, colors and textures as key brand differentiators” when discussing the focus on the “House of Motorola Indigo” during the launch event. While Lenovo highlighted the AI features of their ecosystem that incudes Motorola devices at CES 2026, this Motorola event at MWC 2026 focuses on the differentiating formfactor and look of the new device series that are compatible with Qira.

Source: Counterpoint Research

Qualcomm ready to power AI with 6G

Qualcomm’s major theme was “6G in the AI Era”. With all the technologies launching AI capabilities, Qualcomm is committing to power these features with 6G advancement partnerships and Wi-Fi 8 platform launch. 5G was not forgotten as the X105 5G modem-RF system was also announced, it is the worlds first R19- ready modem. Qualcomm also expanded their chipset portfolio with the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip that already has partnerships with Google, Samsung and Motorola for on-device AI capable wearable devices.

Analyst Take

There is a push for more power to run AI capabilities on consumer devices, and Qualcomm has taken the responsibility to bridge the gap “across devices, the edge, and the cloud” as Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm said in the MWC event. The Smartphone Market Outlook from Counterpoint Research expects an uptick of 6G smartphone device sales by 2029-2030. The Snapdragon Wear Elite chip is a necessary step for wider spread AI penetration in the consumer ecosystem outside of smartphones and laptops. Wearables are the key touchpoint to gather data to help improve the quality of peoples lives so integrating AI capabilities to unify the ecosystem with the data provided in these wearables was a necessary step for consumer AI growth.

Source: Qualcomm (qualcomm.com)

Stay tuned for further updates as MWC Barcelona 2026 continues.