Huawei introduces new Pura phone series amid speculation over its chips
Huawei Technologies has announced its highly anticipated new smartphone series, the Pura 70, in the US-sanctioned firm’s biggest flagship handset launch since the Mate 60 Pro, which drew Washington’s scrutiny for its home-made advanced chip.
The company announced two models for sale yesterday, the Pura 70 Ultra and Pura 70 Pro, while the Pura 70 Pro+ and Pura 70 will be available from Monday.
It did not reveal details of the processors that power the Pura 70 series, but analysts believe the new line will use the firm’s Kirin chips. The Pura series was renamed from the P series in a rebranding effort earlier this week.
The Pura 70 Ultra, the highend model with a starting price of 9,999 yuan (HK$10,813), and the Pura 70 Pro, priced from 6,499 yuan, have sold out on Huawei’s online store, while some units are still available for purchase at its bricks-and-mortar shops.
For offline purchases at Huawei’s flagship stores, consumers had to show up in person and line up for a reservation before buying, according to a saleswoman at the company’s store in Shenzhen. Some models, such as the 512-gigabyte Pura 70 Ultra, had already run out of stock before noon, she added.
The Pura 70 launch generated strong interest on mainland social media, topping the trending topic chart on popular microblogging site Weibo yesterday morning, with some users posting photos of their purchases and the long queues outside Huawei’s physical stores.
The release of the new models has been closely watched by the industry, as it represents Huawei’s biggest flagship handset launch since the Mate 60 Pro last August, which generated attention around the world for its use of a Chinesemade processor.
The 7-nanometre Kirin 9000S was reportedly manufactured by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) despite US export restrictions seeking to limit China’s advanced chip-making capabilities.
Huawei was added to a US trade blacklist in May 2019, forcing the former smartphone leader to skip some planned product launches, severely hobbling its once-lucrative handset business. However, the firm announced last year it would resume launches for its flagship smartphone brands, the Mate and P series.
The Shenzhen-based company has traditionally unveiled new flagship gadgets at its major spring and autumn launch events.
But last August, the tech giant quietly released what was its first 5G handset in three years, the Mate 60 Pro, without any advance notice. It did not introduce the Mate 60 series at later events either, maintaining strict silence on the origin of its in-house chipset.
The Mate 60 proved immensely popular on the mainland, where it became a patriotic symbol of overcoming US attempts to curb China’s technological advances. The momentum helped Huawei retake the No 1 spot in the domestic smartphone market in the first two weeks of this year, according to research firm Counterpoint.