{"id":335512,"date":"2026-03-08T15:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T15:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/335512\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T15:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T15:03:17","slug":"middle-east-crisis-global-memory-crunch-dim-ai-smartphone-buzz-at-mwc-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/335512\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East crisis, global memory crunch dim AI smartphone buzz at MWC 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The mobile industry buzzed with excitement over the artificial intelligence revolution showcased at MWC Barcelona 2026, but the optimism was overshadowed by the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/politics\/article\/3345689\/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Middle East crisis<\/a> and a <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/article\/3343321\/memory-price-surge-more-600-squeezes-chinas-device-makers?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">memory crunch<\/a> that could reshape the global smartphone supply chain.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The AI showcase drew a large crowd, including King Felipe VI of Spain, to the booth of Chinese smartphone maker Honor, which displayed its \u201cRobot Phone\u201d with a built-in camera gimbal designed to become a companion to users.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThis brings a certain level of excitement amid memory shocks,\u201d said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at consultancy Counterpoint Research, who described the Robot Phone as \u201cone of the biggest highlights\u201d in smartphones at MWC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis product\u2019s new form factor opens up a new experience for human-phone interaction,\u201d Lam said, adding it could mark a promising step forward for <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/china-economy\/article\/3343726\/chinas-xi-prioritises-ai-plus-and-consumer-spending-counter-economic-headwinds?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">consumers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Just across the aisle in the same hall, Chinese telecoms gear giant ZTE showcased the China-exclusive Doubao AI agent phone powered by ByteDance\u2019s large language model, as other Android rivals also announced new AI functions to build emotional and physical connections with users.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Spain\u2019s King Felipe VI visits a booth at MWC 2026. Photo: EPA\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/be38e166-8673-4646-a67c-eae7af4e51d0_d4f7b2d8.jpg\" title=\"Spain\u2019s King Felipe VI visits a booth at MWC 2026. Photo: EPA\"\/>Spain\u2019s King Felipe VI visits a booth at MWC 2026. Photo: EPASmartphone and device manufacturers were looking to <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/opinion\/hong-kong-opinion\/article\/3344608\/ai-agents-advance-hong-kong-should-shape-rules-now?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">make AI tangible<\/a> as they realised that \u201cjust having a voice isn\u2019t concrete enough\u201d, said Nicole Peng, research vice-president of consumer at tech research group Omdia. \u201cBuilding that emotional connection is vital.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mobile industry buzzed with excitement over the artificial intelligence revolution showcased at MWC Barcelona 2026, but the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[936,5841,114,229,46419,1813,1647,61,60,1196,202,131618,55896,573,10178,2846,80,148495,90],"class_list":["post-335512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-apple","tag-bytedance","tag-china","tag-chinese","tag-counterpoint-research","tag-europe","tag-huawei","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-middle-east","tag-mobile","tag-mwc","tag-omdia","tag-samsung","tag-south-china-morning-post","tag-spain","tag-technology","tag-transsion","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}