HUAWEI’S PURA 70 ‘POSES FRESH THREAT TO APPLE’
Chinese tech giant eyes sales of more than 10m units for its new handset this year as it looks to reclaim top spot in its home market, analysts say
Huawei Technologies’ new Pura 70 series is posing a further threat to Apple in the world’s biggest smartphone market, as the Chinese tech giant eyes reclaiming the top spot on its home turf this year, analysts say.
The Pura 70 line is expected to generate global shipments of around 10.4 million this year, compared with the company’s previous P60 series, which only shipped 1.8 million units, and the Mate 60 Pro series, which sold 6.2 million units in China last year, according to a report by TechInsights on Thursday.
The Pura 70 series would be one of the key competitors for the iPhone 15 and 16 series this year after Apple’s flagship models posted double-digit annual declines in the mainland market in the first quarter, TechInsights analyst Linda Sui wrote in the report.
TechInsights predicted Huawei would ship more than 50 million smartphones in China this year, enabling it to regain No 1 position with a 19 per cent market share, up from 12 per cent in 2023.
Huawei’s Pura 70 Pro and Pura 70 Ultra officially hit the shelves on Thursday, priced as much as 10,999 yuan (HK$11,900) for the Ultra version.
After weeks of speculation about the launch and pre-order arrangements, online channels ran out of stock shortly after the sale started, and there were long queues of people at the company’s physical stores.
Yesterday, one of the firm’s flagship stores in Shenzhen, its home base, saw customers lining up just to make reservations, without any guarantee of when they could receive their handsets.
Customers who successfully make their reservation will receive a text message notifying them of pickup arrangements, according to a store representative.
The Pura 70 series had seen “good initial demand”, which was not a surprise, given Huawei’s premium brand name and the marketing effect it created with the “blind” pre-orders, said Will Wong, senior research manager for client devices at IDC AsiaPacific.
The flagship models of the Mate and Pura series, previously known as the P series, will help Huawei advance further in China’s smartphone market this year after it ranked fourth in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Wong.
“There’s a good chance [for it to be back in the top five], especially since Huawei has a more well-rounded 5G product portfolio now, ranging from the flagship series to the Nova series,” Wong said.
The release of the Pura 70 models has been closely watched by the industry as it represents Huawei’s biggest flagship handset launch since the Mate 60 Pro in August last year, which generated attention around the world for its use of a Chinese-made processor, the Kirin 9000s.
The 7-nanometre Kirin 9000s was reportedly made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation despite US export restrictions seeking to limit China’s advanced chip-making capabilities.
While Huawei did not reveal details of the processors that powered the Pura 70 series, analysts believe the new line will use the company’s own Kirin chips. Some tech reviewers also posted test results on social media showing the high-end models in the series were using Kirin 9010 chips.
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.
Last August, the tech giant quietly released what was its first 5G handset in three years, the Mate 60 Pro, which proved immensely popular in China, where it became a patriotic symbol of overcoming US attempts to curb the country’s technological advances.