The Evolution of Smartphones and Wearables: A Look into 2016 and Beyond

Holly Plummer sat down with us at CES 2016 to discuss the latest advancements in technology, including smartphones and wearables. As we spoke, it was clear that Holly had a wealth of knowledge on the subject, having spent years working as a diplomat.

One of the main topics of discussion was the US-China geopolitical relationship and its impact on companies like Huawei. Holly explained that while there were some unfortunate collateral damages in the past, a better understanding has developed between policymakers and industry leaders. "We're all global companies, we're all interdependent, we're all relying on common supply chains," she said. "The understanding that exists today is much more mature than it was then."

This newfound maturity has led to a focus on finding reasonable, rational, and commercially logical ways to address vulnerabilities in the industry. With the need to extend broadband capabilities and prepare for 5G, ensuring competition in the marketplace is paramount. Holly noted that American carriers would benefit from making it clear they want a competitive space when preparing for 5G, with interoperable networks built to the same standard.

As we spoke, it was clear that Holly had a keen insight into the future of technology. She predicted that the evolution of smartphones and wearables would continue at a fast pace, with the cadence of the industry right now being one of the fastest. "I don't see that changing," she said. "There are no huge big infrastructure deals going on really anywhere. Everyone is building out 4G and getting capacity issues under control."

Holly also mentioned the deployment of gigabit city solutions for areas where major carriers simply weren't there, citing examples such as Eastern Washington and Oregon. This focus on providing coverage in rural areas demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that technology is accessible to all.

Looking ahead to 2016 and beyond, it's clear that Holly has her finger on the pulse of what's to come. She noted that once we're off-camera, she'll be sharing some exciting news. For now, we'll have to stay tuned for that. As our conversation came to a close, Holly thanked us for having her at CES 2016 and signed off.

The Future of Smartphones: A Look into the Crystal Ball

Holly's predictions for 2016 were intriguing, but what about looking further ahead? We asked her to take a peek into her crystal ball and see what she saw. Her response was that the evolution of smartphones would continue at a rapid pace, with new technologies emerging all the time.

"I don't know if it'll be something completely new, but I do think we'll see a lot more innovation in terms of how we interact with devices," Holly said. "We're already seeing some pretty interesting trends in augmented reality and artificial intelligence, and I think those are going to continue to grow."

One area that Holly saw significant growth was in the field of 5G. With the rollout of this new technology, she predicted that we'll see even faster speeds and more widespread adoption than ever before. "It's going to change everything," she said. "I mean, think about it - with 5G, you'll be able to do things like stream video in real-time, without any lag or delay."

As Holly spoke, it became clear that her predictions were not just based on speculation, but on a deep understanding of the industry and its trends. Her insight was invaluable, and we left our conversation feeling more informed than ever about what's to come.

The Impact of Politics on Technology

One topic that came up during our conversation with Holly was the impact of politics on technology. Specifically, she mentioned the US-China geopolitical relationship and how it has affected companies like Huawei.

"I think there's been some unfair demonization of Huawei," Holly said. "I mean, they're a victim of circumstance, but I also think we need to be careful about who we trust and what we allow in our borders."

Holly noted that the US-China relationship was complex and multifaceted, with both countries having legitimate concerns about each other's actions. However, she argued that this didn't mean that Huawei or other companies like it should be unfairly targeted.

"I think there's been some misplaced fear about these companies," Holly said. "But I also think we need to recognize that they're just trying to do business and sell products. They're not necessarily acting in the best interests of their governments."

As our conversation came to a close, Holly emphasized the importance of finding common ground between countries and industries. She noted that while there would always be differences and disagreements, it was possible to work together and find solutions that benefited everyone.

The Future of Broadband: A Look into 2016

One area that Holly saw significant growth in 2016 was in the field of broadband. With the rollout of new technologies like 5G, she predicted that we'll see even faster speeds and more widespread adoption than ever before.

"It's going to change everything," she said. "I mean, think about it - with 5G, you'll be able to do things like stream video in real-time, without any lag or delay."

Holly also noted the importance of infrastructure development in supporting this growth. She emphasized that building out broadband capabilities and preparing for 5G would require significant investment and cooperation between governments and industries.

One example she cited was the deployment of gigabit city solutions for areas where major carriers simply weren't there. By providing coverage in rural areas, Holly saw an opportunity to bring high-speed internet to communities that had been left behind.

As our conversation came to a close, Holly thanked us for having her at CES 2016 and signed off. We left feeling more informed than ever about what's to come in the world of technology, and we can't wait to see what the future holds.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enstarts lack of a with Android authority reporting live from CES 2016 has been a long day police did a little bit blown out and I'm here was a affected colleague of mine mr. bill Plummer who's VP of strategic external affairs for Huawei thank you very good time today sir for meeting with me thank you yeah so let's talk about 2015 for huawei not a bad year not a bad year now we've not we've not yet reported officially our revenues but we're talking about sixty billion which is a slight jump from last year's 46 billion if you look at just the consumer segment of the the 60 billion we hit in terms of consumer revenues last year about 20 billion dollars which is a 70% increase over the previous year which is really really remarkable a hundred and eight million smartphone shipped last year which is a 44 percent increase over the previous year so yeah it was a nice year that's a good year as I'm including honor or is that just falling good honor that doesn't clear in terms of the competitive landscape in terms of you know what consumers perceive various brands to be in the space who would you say are your closest competitors in 2015 well I mean depending on the market obviously as a March and through the year we were the number one smartphone vendor in China generally speaking in Europe were number three Latin America we shipped 12 million of that devices last year also roughly number three so it seemed a Samsung Apple Huawei and and you know the rest cascade down from there I see yeah definitely well looking in 2016 now you guys do penetrated into the US market with the launch today on or 5x it's gonna be the song Amazon right now for pre-order price of 199 what other kind of devices do you think are gonna come to the u.s. in the future well we the obviously we brought the Nexus the device this year which is done really rather well I mean it's sold out in the first month yeah Google store just sold out it's an incredible device yeah it is I have a few here young yeah not getting them out just just at the moment I'm sure you have one I do and the market well with the PA light and again this is all through you know big-box retail and and each channel you will see more on ER devices coming here you will see a broader range of Huawei branded devices coming here and it's sort of a complementary approach just as the approach to the US market is similarly complementary in terms of from a channel perspective the US market is different it you know the the carrier channel is far more pronounced here than anywhere else yeah and so we're taking a complementary approach working with the carriers to fill their portfolios but then also addressing the consumer segments that are gonna buy unlock anyway mm-hmm and and that's where some of the Huawei device isn't all of the honor devices are targeted so talk about the Nexus 6p I mean that was a breakthrough for volley in a lot of people's eyes how was it architected happen how is it achieved and can you talk about any potential for future collaboration with Google well I mean it when you're when you're involved with Google on a nexus project you're you know it is a special project in your organization and so you know one way of course the consumer business continue to move along while this project moved along so it's very collaborative and in terms of the the inter inter interaction between Huawei and Google it is not an initiative of either company it is truly a joint initiative I think we enjoyed the experience I believe that Google enjoyed the experience and I think that both sides would look forward to enjoying the experience again absolutely well consumers absolutely loved the device and it got our Editors Choice Award and it was second place in our best of Android but it was the reader's choice it was what the readers wanted to win and anyway it's just a fantastic device so we really have to congratulate you for that well I'm carrying one now and I'm also carrying them eight eight now and I may have a p8 on me now so I'm having three phones which is probably too many I love it I look though I'm torn between the Nexus and the mate 8 yeah and I think that the winner in the maintains just it's exquisite especially the device it really is you know maybe for my personal preference it's too large but I thought we talked about this a year or two ago where dude I've got this phablet phobia I know you did there's a media pad x2 that we are talking about I mean it's big but it's beautiful it is gorgeous so what kind of challenges this Huawei face in 2016 well I think is I mean industry-wide we're we're moving towards you wander around here at this show and and everyone's talking about wearables or other connected devices or connected solutions or what-have-you and and that's great and this is the you know the so called interweb of stuff or I hate IOT as a phrase I do too but it is what it is so we'll call it iOS or iw OS in a web of stuff and you can replace the stuff with an S word of your choice but that's all exciting and that's all very sexy but how is all that going to work yes so from a consumer perspective Huawei obviously is we're in the wearables business we're doing terribly well in the modules business working with particularly the German automobile manufacturers taking an approach there where I said look we don't we don't know the vehicular environment you guys figure out the user interface we make radios we make damn good radio yeah you do and so you know so that's a that's a big business for us as well and then populating a range of devices that gives you know a variety of consumer segments we're not a one-trick pony like some know some comfortable sent our competitors yes but then there is that infrastructure business and all which is massive yeah yeah and all the magic of wearables and all the magic of the interweb of stuff is only gonna work if you got the network's to support it you need that infrastructure and and you know if imagine you know 2g your imagine 3G as a little stream through the forest and 4G is the river fed by the stream well 5 G's gonna have to be the ocean ocean has to be yep you're right because otherwise we've already said 100 billion connections plus by 2025 yep at 10 Giga second bare minimum and with sub microsecond latency because some of those connections might be telemedicine related yeah exactly kind of a not a good thing you need it and in a smart car environment the same thing building out those networks is going to be critically important and we are already 600 million dollars invested in R&D for 5g network technology there won't be deployed half a decade hmm setting a building and understanding this year as we continue to build our consumer brand but help the industry also understand we need to work together getting to 100 billion connections is gonna be a collaborative effort doesn't seem like the industry is prepared to be honest particularly markets like the US where it seems to be quite a bit slower in terms of adopting the latest generation technology it'll be I think that when the u.s. actually in in terms of LTE you know the Lua US was definitely behind than 3G the u.s. actually led to some extent 4G deployment largely because they were so far behind in 3G yeah and also because the Europeans bankrupted themselves in buying spectrum for 3G it's an Achon also a leader in LTE or 4G deployment it's it's between now and five years from now the things that we will be doing that the devices and the solutions that will be connected and and the the graduation you and I will carry a smartphone five ten years from now at some point along the way it's going to go away it's there's going to be a wearable here or a wearable in your clothes or some solution that's in your smart car your smart home and so that evolution is one we all need to be preparing for is it will be profound and something that Huawei as you know as the world leader in infrastructure and as a top-three soon well as aspiring to be top two in terms of devices solution we think it's important to be driving this conversation and looking forward and it's a responsibility as an innovative leader to be a part of the conversation and you know that does bring you know a very logical next question which is you know Holly was demonized you know unfairly or fairly depending on your perspective my perspectives clear yeah so you're right there but I mean the United States clearly has you know some kind of disdain for of always technology but yet hallway still produces as you say the world's leading you know five view solutions that are coming down the pipe and you guys are selling buildings at all its equipment to carries around the world annually yeah so is that going to inhibit or hurt United States technological progress if they're unwilling to play ball so to speak that was then this is now yeah you know there was you know Huawei was a victim of some unfortunate collateral damage in the us-china geopolitical relationship a few years ago yes and since then as a result of a number of certain revelations like prism it is driven a better understanding including with policymakers of the nature of this industry I mean come on whether you're a Huawei or a Cisco or an Eric Simon's and and those concerns by the way didn't apply to consumer they only apply to network yeah you know we're all global companies we're all interdependent we're all intertwined we're all relying on common supply chains and I think the understanding that exists today including among political minded is much more mature than it was then and in knowing that look to the extent that there are vulnerabilities very Universal and so let's find you know reasonable rational and commercially logical ways to address them and particularly with with you know the need to extend broadband today and prepare for for whatever tomorrow's broadband is ensure competition in the marketplace and with you know Nokia and Alcatel coming together it'd be imperative is even stronger for American carriers for instance to make it clear they when they get ready for 5g they want they want a competitive space they need us they do they need to pit the competitors against one another to drive down the cost you know I'll take your network widget and your network what's it and since they're interoperable built to the same standard I'm gonna put those together so you guys got to bid yourselves yeah and compete on quality compete on price compete on technology and compete on security assurance that's where we'll be that's extremely well said thank you that's exactly what I have right here because I'm extremely erudite man so winners losers 2016 any any predictions looking at her crystal ball do you think things are gonna be more the same our heads gonna roll you know keep gonna make a comeback oh we were talking about the election well no oh yeah okay who's gonna win oh god I can't two careers ago I was a diplomat as a diplomat I was not allowed to actually have a or at least not publicly have any political affiliation her preferences and and I've done a good job of since then not telegraphing any preferences this is one of the weirdest yes campaigns I've ever seen I'm I'm firmly hoping that America remains a marginally rational country in the future doesn't seem like it will though no I think we will I don't just need to get this out of our system yeah we're working through that yes we are and that's kind of like Southern Oregon is no longer part of the United States apparently I didn't know that well we'll fix that okay I don't work itself out oh it's not a real country either fairly okay but in the industry I think it's gonna be I mean it the evolution of smartphones is going to continue to to to be fast-paced I mean the the cadence of that industry right now and wearables is so much faster than the most energetic sectors I don't see that changing there are no you know huge big infrastructure deals going on really anywhere everyone is you know building out 4G and and and you know getting the you know where their capacity issues you have microsomes and pico cells or coverage issues or or even as always doing here in the US and you know some of the rural areas and Eastern Washington Eastern Oregon we even deployed gigabit city solutions for places where the major carriers just simply weren't there yeah I've heard that um so those you know it's I think it'll be more of the same this year kind of like the evolution of this show year to here it's only the first day and I've been around um I'm waiting still there's always at some point there's always an aha I got your oh wow I haven't haven't seen it yet I don't know I haven't seen you there and it's my fifth time doing it but I know there would be something significant well once we're off camera I'm going to tell you about something I heard about no not going to say it on camera we'll have to stay tuned for that yes mr. Plummer a real pleasure and honor thank you guys starts to the cuvette from CES 2016 reporting signing offstarts lack of a with Android authority reporting live from CES 2016 has been a long day police did a little bit blown out and I'm here was a affected colleague of mine mr. bill Plummer who's VP of strategic external affairs for Huawei thank you very good time today sir for meeting with me thank you yeah so let's talk about 2015 for huawei not a bad year not a bad year now we've not we've not yet reported officially our revenues but we're talking about sixty billion which is a slight jump from last year's 46 billion if you look at just the consumer segment of the the 60 billion we hit in terms of consumer revenues last year about 20 billion dollars which is a 70% increase over the previous year which is really really remarkable a hundred and eight million smartphone shipped last year which is a 44 percent increase over the previous year so yeah it was a nice year that's a good year as I'm including honor or is that just falling good honor that doesn't clear in terms of the competitive landscape in terms of you know what consumers perceive various brands to be in the space who would you say are your closest competitors in 2015 well I mean depending on the market obviously as a March and through the year we were the number one smartphone vendor in China generally speaking in Europe were number three Latin America we shipped 12 million of that devices last year also roughly number three so it seemed a Samsung Apple Huawei and and you know the rest cascade down from there I see yeah definitely well looking in 2016 now you guys do penetrated into the US market with the launch today on or 5x it's gonna be the song Amazon right now for pre-order price of 199 what other kind of devices do you think are gonna come to the u.s. in the future well we the obviously we brought the Nexus the device this year which is done really rather well I mean it's sold out in the first month yeah Google store just sold out it's an incredible device yeah it is I have a few here young yeah not getting them out just just at the moment I'm sure you have one I do and the market well with the PA light and again this is all through you know big-box retail and and each channel you will see more on ER devices coming here you will see a broader range of Huawei branded devices coming here and it's sort of a complementary approach just as the approach to the US market is similarly complementary in terms of from a channel perspective the US market is different it you know the the carrier channel is far more pronounced here than anywhere else yeah and so we're taking a complementary approach working with the carriers to fill their portfolios but then also addressing the consumer segments that are gonna buy unlock anyway mm-hmm and and that's where some of the Huawei device isn't all of the honor devices are targeted so talk about the Nexus 6p I mean that was a breakthrough for volley in a lot of people's eyes how was it architected happen how is it achieved and can you talk about any potential for future collaboration with Google well I mean it when you're when you're involved with Google on a nexus project you're you know it is a special project in your organization and so you know one way of course the consumer business continue to move along while this project moved along so it's very collaborative and in terms of the the inter inter interaction between Huawei and Google it is not an initiative of either company it is truly a joint initiative I think we enjoyed the experience I believe that Google enjoyed the experience and I think that both sides would look forward to enjoying the experience again absolutely well consumers absolutely loved the device and it got our Editors Choice Award and it was second place in our best of Android but it was the reader's choice it was what the readers wanted to win and anyway it's just a fantastic device so we really have to congratulate you for that well I'm carrying one now and I'm also carrying them eight eight now and I may have a p8 on me now so I'm having three phones which is probably too many I love it I look though I'm torn between the Nexus and the mate 8 yeah and I think that the winner in the maintains just it's exquisite especially the device it really is you know maybe for my personal preference it's too large but I thought we talked about this a year or two ago where dude I've got this phablet phobia I know you did there's a media pad x2 that we are talking about I mean it's big but it's beautiful it is gorgeous so what kind of challenges this Huawei face in 2016 well I think is I mean industry-wide we're we're moving towards you wander around here at this show and and everyone's talking about wearables or other connected devices or connected solutions or what-have-you and and that's great and this is the you know the so called interweb of stuff or I hate IOT as a phrase I do too but it is what it is so we'll call it iOS or iw OS in a web of stuff and you can replace the stuff with an S word of your choice but that's all exciting and that's all very sexy but how is all that going to work yes so from a consumer perspective Huawei obviously is we're in the wearables business we're doing terribly well in the modules business working with particularly the German automobile manufacturers taking an approach there where I said look we don't we don't know the vehicular environment you guys figure out the user interface we make radios we make damn good radio yeah you do and so you know so that's a that's a big business for us as well and then populating a range of devices that gives you know a variety of consumer segments we're not a one-trick pony like some know some comfortable sent our competitors yes but then there is that infrastructure business and all which is massive yeah yeah and all the magic of wearables and all the magic of the interweb of stuff is only gonna work if you got the network's to support it you need that infrastructure and and you know if imagine you know 2g your imagine 3G as a little stream through the forest and 4G is the river fed by the stream well 5 G's gonna have to be the ocean ocean has to be yep you're right because otherwise we've already said 100 billion connections plus by 2025 yep at 10 Giga second bare minimum and with sub microsecond latency because some of those connections might be telemedicine related yeah exactly kind of a not a good thing you need it and in a smart car environment the same thing building out those networks is going to be critically important and we are already 600 million dollars invested in R&D for 5g network technology there won't be deployed half a decade hmm setting a building and understanding this year as we continue to build our consumer brand but help the industry also understand we need to work together getting to 100 billion connections is gonna be a collaborative effort doesn't seem like the industry is prepared to be honest particularly markets like the US where it seems to be quite a bit slower in terms of adopting the latest generation technology it'll be I think that when the u.s. actually in in terms of LTE you know the Lua US was definitely behind than 3G the u.s. actually led to some extent 4G deployment largely because they were so far behind in 3G yeah and also because the Europeans bankrupted themselves in buying spectrum for 3G it's an Achon also a leader in LTE or 4G deployment it's it's between now and five years from now the things that we will be doing that the devices and the solutions that will be connected and and the the graduation you and I will carry a smartphone five ten years from now at some point along the way it's going to go away it's there's going to be a wearable here or a wearable in your clothes or some solution that's in your smart car your smart home and so that evolution is one we all need to be preparing for is it will be profound and something that Huawei as you know as the world leader in infrastructure and as a top-three soon well as aspiring to be top two in terms of devices solution we think it's important to be driving this conversation and looking forward and it's a responsibility as an innovative leader to be a part of the conversation and you know that does bring you know a very logical next question which is you know Holly was demonized you know unfairly or fairly depending on your perspective my perspectives clear yeah so you're right there but I mean the United States clearly has you know some kind of disdain for of always technology but yet hallway still produces as you say the world's leading you know five view solutions that are coming down the pipe and you guys are selling buildings at all its equipment to carries around the world annually yeah so is that going to inhibit or hurt United States technological progress if they're unwilling to play ball so to speak that was then this is now yeah you know there was you know Huawei was a victim of some unfortunate collateral damage in the us-china geopolitical relationship a few years ago yes and since then as a result of a number of certain revelations like prism it is driven a better understanding including with policymakers of the nature of this industry I mean come on whether you're a Huawei or a Cisco or an Eric Simon's and and those concerns by the way didn't apply to consumer they only apply to network yeah you know we're all global companies we're all interdependent we're all intertwined we're all relying on common supply chains and I think the understanding that exists today including among political minded is much more mature than it was then and in knowing that look to the extent that there are vulnerabilities very Universal and so let's find you know reasonable rational and commercially logical ways to address them and particularly with with you know the need to extend broadband today and prepare for for whatever tomorrow's broadband is ensure competition in the marketplace and with you know Nokia and Alcatel coming together it'd be imperative is even stronger for American carriers for instance to make it clear they when they get ready for 5g they want they want a competitive space they need us they do they need to pit the competitors against one another to drive down the cost you know I'll take your network widget and your network what's it and since they're interoperable built to the same standard I'm gonna put those together so you guys got to bid yourselves yeah and compete on quality compete on price compete on technology and compete on security assurance that's where we'll be that's extremely well said thank you that's exactly what I have right here because I'm extremely erudite man so winners losers 2016 any any predictions looking at her crystal ball do you think things are gonna be more the same our heads gonna roll you know keep gonna make a comeback oh we were talking about the election well no oh yeah okay who's gonna win oh god I can't two careers ago I was a diplomat as a diplomat I was not allowed to actually have a or at least not publicly have any political affiliation her preferences and and I've done a good job of since then not telegraphing any preferences this is one of the weirdest yes campaigns I've ever seen I'm I'm firmly hoping that America remains a marginally rational country in the future doesn't seem like it will though no I think we will I don't just need to get this out of our system yeah we're working through that yes we are and that's kind of like Southern Oregon is no longer part of the United States apparently I didn't know that well we'll fix that okay I don't work itself out oh it's not a real country either fairly okay but in the industry I think it's gonna be I mean it the evolution of smartphones is going to continue to to to be fast-paced I mean the the cadence of that industry right now and wearables is so much faster than the most energetic sectors I don't see that changing there are no you know huge big infrastructure deals going on really anywhere everyone is you know building out 4G and and and you know getting the you know where their capacity issues you have microsomes and pico cells or coverage issues or or even as always doing here in the US and you know some of the rural areas and Eastern Washington Eastern Oregon we even deployed gigabit city solutions for places where the major carriers just simply weren't there yeah I've heard that um so those you know it's I think it'll be more of the same this year kind of like the evolution of this show year to here it's only the first day and I've been around um I'm waiting still there's always at some point there's always an aha I got your oh wow I haven't haven't seen it yet I don't know I haven't seen you there and it's my fifth time doing it but I know there would be something significant well once we're off camera I'm going to tell you about something I heard about no not going to say it on camera we'll have to stay tuned for that yes mr. Plummer a real pleasure and honor thank you guys starts to the cuvette from CES 2016 reporting signing off\n"