SHANGHAI, China – The Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2017 opened today, Wednesday, June 28, at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre (SNIEC) to thousands of attendees – the press, phone makers, tech companies, Chinese telcos, and the public. 

The show expects 63,000 attendees this year over its 4-day run, ending on Saturday, July 1. 

Hall W5, one of the 8 SNIEC halls of MWC Shanghai, hosted the booths of Chinese tech giant Huawei, Chinese telco China Mobile, Nokia, and Samsung, to name the bigger brands at this area.

Huawei, a main sponsor of the event, occupied the central area, showcasing not just their flagship P10 phones, and Mate laptops, but also their internet-of-things (IoT) devices, 5G networking, videoconferencing, video applications, and automated driving solutions, as well as new base station equipment for use by telcos. 

Nokia, northwest of the Huawei booth, put their revived phone lineup on display, including the Nokia 3310, first revealed at January’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

At the China Mobile booth, a drone that was massive compared to commercial ones was shown off, which functioned as a flying base station that can be deployed to deliver a network connection during emergencies. Samsung’s Exynos chips, used in its phones, VR devices, and other products were also on display. 

In photos, we show you some of the sights we’ve seen on the first day of MWC Shanghai.

People march towards the entrance hall, passing by MWC banners, posters, and individuals holding signs:

Posters and standees bearing directions and “The Human Element” tagline can be seen: 

From Hall W5’s entrance, the other halls can be seen across: 

Inside, here’s what greeted attendees as they entered: 

Next, the Huawei booth:

These are some of the phones, wearables and laptops on display at Hall W5:

People interact with the devices, cars on display as well as some models stationed at some booths:

The crowd was huge on the show’s first day:

This drone at the China Mobile booth is the aforementioned flying base station meant for emergency situations:

At a Huawei presentation, the company presented 3 new devices (RuralStar, TubeStar, and PoleStar) meant to deliver network signal in a more cost-efficient manner. They are currently deployed in several regions such as Thailand and Latin America, with further deployment in more countries in the future.

The Philippines may be among those countries where these devices are deployed, as Huawei said they are currently focused on helping emerging markets where the need may be more urgent. 

Huawei showed a slide about how China shaved $170 million off operating expenses (opex) using their solutions that target multiple fronts including energy use and antenna height to name two. They believe that if operating expenses can be cut, telcos will be able to provide better services, ultimately. 

At Hall W3, top executives from Huawei, Qualcomm, and Telstra, among others, discussed digital transformation for businesses as guided by what today’s consumers need and demand.

Outside the auditorium, a few scenes at what’s called “Innovation City” exhibits:

– Rappler.com