A number of Android phone brands are expected to showcase their new models for 2017 at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC), heralding a new round of competition in the global smartphone space, according to industry sources.

China-based vendors, including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, are likely to steal the spotlight of the show. Huawei will spearhead the competition by highlighting its Huawei P10, which features 5.2-inch 1440 by 2560 display, Hisilicon Kirin 960 CPU paired with Mali-71 MP8 GPU, and dual 12-megapixel main camera with Leica optics.

Huawei, which shipped 139.3 million smartphones in 2016, will look to ramp up its shipments to 160 million units in 2017, estimated the sources.

Oppo has sent out invitations indicating that it will introduce its Oppo 5x, a model which is believed to come with strong image capture capabilities, probably a 5x optical zoom, noted the sources. Oppo's smartphone shipments came to 99.4 million units in 2016 and it aims to boost shipments to 120 million units in 2017.

Sony Mobile Communications is expected to showcase its new Xperia XA lineup at MWC, while still focusing on the high-end segment. Show goers also are expected to see new offerings from Lenovo (Moto G5 and G5 Plus), LG Electronics' G6 and more than one Nokia phone from HMD Global.