Huawei launches new smartphones
Huawei unveiled new flagship smartphones with novel smart camera and video features on Tuesday as it seeks to sustain momentum among price-conscious consumers.
Huawei unveiled new flagship smartphones with novel smart camera and video features on Tuesday as it seeks to sustain momentum among price-conscious consumers.
The Chinese company, which overtook Apple this year to become the No 2 smartphone maker by units, behind South Korea’s Samsung, introduced its Mate 20 phone series using Leica camera technology. They include a new ultrawide-angle lens, a telephoto lens and a macro that shoots objects as close as 2.5cm.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Mate P20 models take advantage of artificial intelligence features built into Huawei’s own Kirin chipsets.
Features include being able to isolate human subjects and desaturate the colours around them in order to highlight people against their backgrounds.
Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said that in a highly commoditised smartphone market of look-alike phones, Huawei is managing to differentiate itself with camera and personalisation features.
“With the Mate 20, Huawei is setting the bar for what users can expect from photography using a smartphone,” she said.
At its global product launch event in London, Huawei is expected to undercut Samsung and Apple’s premium phone prices, which are well above the $1,000 mark.
MARKET BAN
The Chinese phonemaker managed to the No 2 spot in the second quarter, industry data shows, despite facing an effective ban in the US market over whispered national security concerns. But Apple commanded 43% of the premium market and a lion’s share of profits, according to an estimate by CounterPoint Research.
“Huawei is clearly ticking all the key boxes needed to displace rivals, and not just Android-powered rivals,” said Ben Wood, research chief of mobile industry consulting firm CCS Insight.
Wood said Huawei’s move to match Apple iPhone’s characteristic swipe gestures and face unlock features on its Mate 20 Pro could, in theory, make it easier for committed Apple buyers to switch.
He said that was unlikely for now, although Huawei “has its eye on the future”.