Barcelona, MWC week: what device makers ask us about entering Europe

Last week, at the end of MWC week, we were in Barcelona. MWC had filled the city with the mobile and connected-device industry, which makes it a good moment to meet hardware manufacturers who are thinking about Europe. The conversations we have at such moments, and throughout the year, tend to circle around the same few questions, whatever the product and wherever the manufacturer comes from.

Some of these companies make sensors and meters, others gateways, trackers or automation equipment. What they have in common is a working business at home and a product that is ready, and the realisation that entering Europe takes more than shipping it here. Below are the questions we hear most often and how we answer them. This post builds on our earlier overview of what bringing a non-EU product to Europe really involves and on our summary of RED cybersecurity and the Data Act.

“Who is our company in the EU?”

The first question is usually about distribution: who, inside the EU, will act as the distributor or importer. This is more than logistics. Most products sold in the EU need an economic operator established in the EU who is responsible for compliance, and since the General Product Safety Regulation started to apply in December 2024, online offers must also show who that is. Someone in Europe has to organise imports, handle VAT, contracts, warranty and returns, and answer the market surveillance authority if it asks.

We work this way ourselves: EMBIQ GmbH is our company in Austria, with our engineering team in Poland. That lets us offer a legal and operational base in the EU while a manufacturer validates the market, before it decides whether it needs its own subsidiary.

“Who will sell for us?”

The second question is about people. Many manufacturers want a dedicated salesperson for Europe, and we think that is the right instinct: a European market is rarely opened from a head office in another time zone. The best hires usually come through industry networks, because they already know the channels and the customers.

A salesperson also needs support around them: product material in the languages of the first markets, reference installations, and a clear answer to the question every European buyer asks, “who supports this after the sale?”. Just as important is choosing what to lead with. A good first step is to go through the catalogue and mark the products that should come first in Europe, rather than bringing the whole portfolio at once.

“How do we test in European conditions?”

Devices that work well at home can behave differently in Europe: different networks, installation practices, climate and customer expectations. Manufacturers often ask whether someone can do field engineering on their behalf. We can, after proper technical onboarding from their engineers: setting up test sessions, collecting logs and running structured QA, so that the R&D team at home gets the data it needs without flying people in for every test. We have done this kind of work before, for example in QA support for devices integrated across Europe.

“What has to change in the software?”

Devices sold in Europe rarely stand alone. They report to a platform, connect to customers' systems and process data that may relate to people and places. That means both functional and regulatory adaptation:

• The GDPR applies to any personal data the devices or the platform process, including where the cloud runs and who can access customer data from outside the EU.
• RED cybersecurity has applied since 1 August 2025 to internet-connected radio equipment, with the EN 18031 harmonised standards as the usual route to show compliance.
• The Data Act has applied since 12 September 2025. Connected products placed on the market from 12 September 2026 must be designed so that users can access the data they generate.
• The Cyber Resilience Act brings reporting of actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents from 11 September 2026 and full obligations from 11 December 2027. Products designed now will still be on sale then.
• Meters used for billing, such as water, gas, electricity or heat meters, also fall under the Measuring Instruments Directive, which has its own conformity assessment.

Integration is the other half. Enterprise and institutional customers expect new devices to work with the energy, building or facility systems they already have. That usually means a dedicated platform or connectors to existing ones, similar to what we built for remote monitoring of energy and water consumption.

First steps we recommend

1. Choose the products for Europe first, and write down why those and not others.
2. Decide how you will be present in the EU: your own entity, an importer or distributor, or a partner who can act locally.
3. Build a regulatory map for each product, covering the requirements coming in 2026 and 2027, not only those in force today.
4. Appoint the first salesperson for Europe and prepare the material and support they will need.
5. Run field tests with early customers, with logs and findings flowing back to R&D.
6. Plan software adaptation and integrations together with certification, not after it.

The good news for manufacturers from outside the EU is that European rules, while demanding, are predictable and published well in advance. Those who treat them as part of product and market planning, rather than as a final hurdle, reach customers faster. We have been on the other side of this journey too, visiting Japan and talking to experts on foreign markets at the PAIH Business Forum.

If you are planning a European launch, see our product and technology Europeanization and business development and market entry services, or contact us.