Huawei’s Mate 20 flagship seen as crucial to showcase its tech prowess against rivals Samsung and Apple

Huawei Technologies, China's top smartphone brand, is set to unveil its latest mobile handset equipped with artificial intellligence (AI) technology, as the company ramps up competition at the high end with global rivals Samsung Electronics and Apple.

The Huawei Mate 20 series, expected to be its most expensive phone to date, will be equipped with the company’s in-house Kirin 980 chip specifically designed for AI computing tasks, the Shenzhen-based company said on its official sales website. Pre-orders will start at 10.08am on October 17 following the product launch in London on Tuesday.

The upcoming launch will be crucial for Huawei to showcase its capability as a top-tier global smartphone vendor, as the Mate series represents the company's best offering in technology and its future product direction, said Zaker Li, a senior industry analyst with IHS Markit.

Huawei has been rolling out high end handsets under its P and Mate series, confident that its more cost effective models can compete effectively with Samsung and Apple.

After Apple’s new iPhone product launch on September 12, Huawei’s mobile chief Richard Yu Chengdong told his 6.5 million followers on microblog Sina Weibo “No problem (for us) now, see you all in London Oct. 16”, indicating his confidence in the company’s latest offering.

On track to ship 200 million handsets to both domestic and global markets in 2018, Huawei outstripped Apple in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of this year, making it No 2 behind Samsung. However, the Chinese company may slip back to No 3 in the latest quarter given the launch of Apple’s new iPhones.