Huawei unveils latest models at MWC
P10 and P10 Plus receive mixed reviews from analysts
Chinese telecommunication services provider Huawei Technologies Co’s latest smartphones, the P10 and P10 Plus, have had a mixed reaction from analysts after they were unveiled on February 26 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
The new models feature the new Leica Dual Camera 2.0 with precise three-dimensional facial recognition, powered by its ultra-fast Kirin 960 processor. Huawei also teamed up with Pantone Color Institute to bring 5.1-inch Full HD with 1920x1080 resolution, adding more colors to its latest products.
Huawei’s P10 and P10 Plus have not disappointed customers, just as its major rivals Samsung and Apple gear up to release new products, Zhao Ziming, an industry expert at Beijing-based consultancy Analysys International, told the Global Times on Monday.
“The cooperation with Pantone helped the company explore more possibilities in terms of using different colors, which used to be a privilege of Apple,” he said.
Also, the P10 and P10 Plus do not use dual-curved edge screens, which means Huawei has more time to work on this technology, he noted.
The new models are priced at 649 euros ($687) for P10 of 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, 699 euros for P10 Plus of 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and 799 euros for P10 Plus of 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage in Europe. They are expected to go on sale in Asia and the US in March.
Still, the products are likely to be “overpriced” as Huawei has not made any major technology breakthroughs in the latest models, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based independent industry analyst, told the Global Times on Monday.
“It has become obvious that Huawei lacks eye-catching breakthroughs in its [latest] smartphone products. Instead, it’s attaching more importance to upgrading its configuration, like its 8-million-pixel frontfacing camera and its partnership with Leica,” he said, noting that this strategy is not unique to Huawei.
For instance, OPPO brought about a major technological breakthrough by upgrading its flash charging system, which had a significant impact on the industry, Liu noted.
In 2016, OPPO was ranked as the top vendor in the Chinese market, with total shipments of 78.4 million units that accounted for 16.8 percent of the total market share, according to a report released by market research firm IDC on February 6.
Huawei was ranked as the secondlargest vendor, shipping 76.6 million units and holding 16.4 percent of the market.
Worldwide, Samsung and Apple surpassed Huawei in total shipments in 2016, according to preliminary data for that year compiled by IDC on February 1.
Another highlight of the latest P10 and P10 Plus is the dual-lens camera, but it still lags behind its major competitor Samsung in terms of image formation, Zhao noted.
“Overall, the P10 and P10 Plus are better-than-expected models that use the Android operating system in the first half of 2017,” he said.
The Huawei P10 Plus’ Leica DualCamera 2.0 Pro Edition includes new SUMMILUX-H Leica lenses with a larger F/1.8 aperture and higher optical capability. Co-developed with GoPro, Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus also feature Highlights, a mobile editing tool which creates a dynamic video of users’ images and videos.