Two major trade shows focused on different aspects of the IoT space happened in quick succession in March 2026: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Embedded World in Nuremberg. This report highlights some of the key themes that emerged from the show. In large part this reflects more the author’s intense weeks meeting with vendors from across the universe of IoT – with a strong focus on cellular-based connectivity – and triangulating their perspectives, rather than listing announcements or quoting speakers on stage. There are many opportunities to hear from commentators about the latter, but rather fewer of the former. Key themes relate to technology trends (or, rather, lack of them), evolving competitive positions of players, new differentiators, and the growing challenges of compliance, amongst other things. As well as the emergence of a new term: ‘Physical AI’.
Two major trade shows focused on different aspects of the IoT space happened in quick succession in March 2026: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Embedded World in Nuremberg. This report highlights some of the key themes that emerged from the show. In large part this reflects more the author’s intense weeks meeting with vendors from across the universe of IoT – with a strong focus on cellular-based connectivity – and triangulating their perspectives, rather than listing announcements or quoting speakers on stage. There are many opportunities to hear from commentators about the latter, but rather fewer of the former.
Key themes relate to technology trends (or, rather, lack of them), evolving competitive positions of players, new differentiators, and the growing challenges of compliance, amongst other things. As well as the emergence of a new term: ‘Physical AI’.
