But it's always the consumer technology that's the star. We asked Stuff Magazine Editor-in-Chief Will Findlater to analyze the top trends from the show.
Trend 1: Getting the whole world connnected
Mark Zuckerberg used his keynote address to wax lyrical about Internet.org, "a global partnership dedicated to making internet access available to the two-thirds of the world not yet connected."
By striking deals with telecommunications companies in emerging markets, Internet.org plans to get basic web services - weather reports, Wikipedia, messaging and Facebook (naturally,) to people at no cost, in the hope that it will inspire them to explore the rest of the web and reap the benefits that it can provide. And there was plenty of hardware at MWC that should help along the way.
Given the deep relationship with Microsoft, many were surprised to see Nokia's mobile division adopt Android for its new devices, but Android is a platform more suited to the emerging markets at which these three devices are aimed. The X series lacks superstar specifications but do feature dual SIM slots, expandable memory and swappable cases, all of which Nokia's Windows Phone devices lack, and all of which it says the developing world wants.
Mozilla's Firefox OS might not be making huge waves in the developed world, but it could be the platform that helps spread smartphone use through emerging markets.
Key could be the Flame, a handset that costs next to nothing yet features all the traits of a smartphone: Firefox OS, a dual-core processor, 3G, Wi-Fi and a 4.5in touchscreen. It can run a selection of HTML5 apps and will cost just U.S. $25.
Mozilla suggests that people think of the Flame as a more powerful feature phone than a full-on smartphone, but as Firefox OS expands there will be access to more and more apps.
Trend 2: Wellness and wearables
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