In Pictures: Gitex Global 2021 rolls out the hardware and a whole lot of ‘New tech’

Let’s get this straight – 2020 was actually a good year for tech. Especially for consumer focussed brands in the UAE, it was as if the holiday buying season was on throughout the year. At least from March onwards, when everything changed after certain a virus showed up.

Almost overnight, everyone was in ‘upgrade’ or ‘buy new’ mode, which lasted, well, through the rest of the year. Can the world’s best tech brands beat 2020?

For the likes of Samsung, Huawei or Apple, this could be the time to convince UAE consumers there is lots more to offer with the latest model releases. The Chinese smartphone giant Huawei wants a new crop of consumers to hook up on its other gadgets that are not a smartphone.

Wait a minute, Huawei isn’t only dealing in the consumer currency of hotshot gadgets. At Gitex Global, the brand is putting on a suite of applications with ‘end-to-end industry digital transformation solutions’. “Huawei believes deeply in the power of digital technology to provide fresh solutions to the problems that we all face,” said Steven Yi, President for the Middle East at Huawei.

Another Chinese tech heavy, Lenovo, is too is talking about the next big things in tech – or what it says is ‘New IT’. Think, supercomputing and 5G, AI and cloud, and you get an idea of what Lenovo is on about. “The show is the ideal platform to have important discussions about how we address the opportunities we see in the region as we move towards economic recovery,” said Alaa Bawab, General Manager, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), Middle East & Africa.

There is a belief that the big deals on cloud or 5G are going to emerge through the projects pipeline in 2022. Ericsson has been busy winning some eye-catching 5G-related deals, but there are still many more to come.

After a year of Zooms and teams, Gitex Global will be the perfect platform for a full reconnect with a human touch. Minus the handshake. There will some serious discussions, not least on AI benefits and Blockchain possibilities.

But brands will even with all the business possibilities staring at them will not lose focus on the consumer. Some opportunities will be there to present the best credentials of the latest smartphone or hardware – to the consumer.

The upgrade of buy new debates will start all over again. Only this year, it’s back to making those decisions for the end-of-year.

All that gleaming hardware will impress many, get more to make a decision, and the wheels of technology keep running. For those wanting to take break, there is always the glimpse of flying electric car…