世界最大の通信見本市「ＭＷＣ」 ＡＩと貿易摩擦が焦点に

【バルセロナＡＦＰ＝時事】スペイン・バルセロナで３日、世界最大のモバイル機器見本市「モバイル・ワールド・コングレス（ＭＷＣ）」が開幕した。今年のテーマは、人工知能（ＡＩ）がガジェットを変革する可能性への期待と、米国による貿易摩擦への懸念が交錯する中での開催となった。（写真はスペイン・バルセロナで開催中の世界最大のモバイル機器見本市「モバイルワールドコングレス〈ＭＷＣ〉」に来場する人）
　毎年約１０万人が参加するＭＷＣは、初日早朝から大勢の来場者が最新のデバイスや技術革新を求めて展示ブースを訪れ、業界の未来をめぐる議論に参加した。
　ＭＷＣには多くの中国企業が出展している。米トランプ政権は４日から、中国に対し、今年２月に発動した１０％の関税を２０％に引き上げるため、影響が懸念されている。
　中国には華為技術（ファーウェイ）などの主要テクノロジー企業が存在するほか、アップルなどの外国企業が販売する携帯端末の組み立てや、重要な部品の生産も行われている。
　開幕前日に行われたイベントで、ノキアのペッカ・ルンドマーク最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は「明らかに、世界的な関税戦争は誰の利益にもならない」と述べつつ、「貿易に関して何が起こるかは誰も本当に分からない」との見方を示した。
　トランプ氏が中国に対する高率関税を撤回せず、さらに欧州連合（ＥＵ）など他の主要経済圏にも拡大すれば、世界のＩＴおよびスマートフォン市場全体に、貿易コスト上昇の影響が及ぶ可能性がある。
　■ＡＩ技術がずらり
　会場では、ＡＩ技術の導入を前面に押し出した展示が各所で見られた。
　グーグルの著名な科学者であるレイ・カーツワイル氏はビデオリンクを通じて登場し、ＡＩが「脳システムと直接対話する」未来を予測し、それによって人間の知能が大幅に拡張される可能性があると語った。
　携帯端末メーカー各社も、最新モデルに搭載されたＡＩ技術をアピールしている。
　サムスンは、ユーザーが自然言語で指示を出し、簡単なタスクを実行できる端末をデモンストレーションした。これは、一般消費者向け市場におけるＡＩエージェントのトレンドに沿った動きだ。
　また、中国の栄耀（ＨＯＮＯＲ）は、新しいモデルにＡＩを活用したディープフェイク画像やビデオの検出ツールを組み込むと発表した。
　ＣｈａｔＧＰＴの登場以降、テック業界の視線の先には生成ＡＩがあり、新たなデバイス開発において必須の要素となっている。
　スマートフォン市場は２年間の縮小から回復し、２０２４年には６．３％増加。販売台数は１２億台を超えたと、市場調査会社ＩＤＣは報告している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/04-20:15）

The world's largest wireless technology showcase kicked off on Monday, with excitement over AI's potential to transform gadgets clashing with concerns over trade tensions fuelled by the United States.
The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is set to draw around 100,000 attendees in Barcelona, opened the day before fresh American tariffs come into force on Chinese goods.
A dense crowd packed the halls between stands blazing with screens from early morning, hunting out the latest devices and innovations from manufacturers or set to participate in debates about the future of the industry.
Telecoms chiefs appealed for easier regulation and greater freedom to merge their businesses in Europe as they seek fatter margins and the scale to sustain infrastructure investment.
It is time for large European telcos to be allowed to consolidate and grow, said Marc Murtra, head of Spain's Telefonica.
Meanwhile Sunil Bharti Mittal, head of India's Airtel, urged government, regulators, please lower taxes on this industry. Please give enough spectrum at affordable costs.
- Tariff blow to China -
Many exhibitors at the MWC hail from China, whose products will be hit by an additional 10-percent import tariff on top of the 10 percent already imposed by President Donald Trump since he took office in January.
The billionaire president is also pushing neighbours Mexico and Canada to follow suit.
Obviously a global tariff war would not be to anyone's benefit, although nobody really knows what's going to happen on trade, said Pekka Lundmark, CEO of major network hardware maker Nokia, at a pre-MWC event late Sunday.
Higher costs for trade could impact the entire global tech and smartphone market if Trump keeps the China tariffs in place and extends them to other major economies like the European Union, as he has threatened.
China is home to major tech companies such as Huawei, but it also assembles smartphones and other products sold by foreign firms such as Apple and produces key components.
Renate Nikolay, the European Commission's deputy director-general for communications networks, told AFP that the challenging geopolitical context means it's crucial for Europe to ensure our tech sovereignty and our strategic autonomy in critical sectors.
But with no clear answers on trade, many participants will try to forget the issue for now to focus on the promise of AI, predicted Cedric Foray, telecoms chief at consultancy EY.
- AI, AI everywhere -
On Sunday, some of the many Chinese smartphone makers attending MWC alongside other global telecom heavyweights focused their pre-show announcements on new products and investments.
Manufacturer Honor -- a Huawei spinoff -- said it was launching a new phase in its development that would transform it into a global leading AI device ecosystem company.
Honor said its future intelligent smartphones, developed with US firms Google Cloud and Qualcomm, would come equipped with AI agents that could take on tasks like scheduling events or reserving a table at a restaurant.
Competitor Xiaomi, the world's third-biggest smartphone maker after Apple and Samsung, unveiled a new range of smartphones equipped with high-quality cameras and their own suite of AI features.
Generative AI's capture of tech industry attention since ChatGPT first emerged has made it a must-have for any firm developing new devices.
There is growing AI fatigue among industry watchers as it is often hard to understand the tangible benefits for people actually using devices, said Ben Wood, analyst at tech research firm CCS Insight.
But EY's Foray said he expected a big difference this year in that AI will be very concrete in its applications.
Agent services like those shown off by Honor aim to show consumers how AI can boost their smartphones' capabilities.
Such hurdles have not kept a lid on smartphone sales, which recovered from two years of shrinkage to expand 6.3 percent in 2024 -- topping 1.2 billion units, according to market intelligence firm IDC.
Manufacturers are optimistic about maintaining the momentum into this year.
The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market, IDC research director Nabila Popal said.