Huawei’s flagship store in Shenzhen quickly runs out of new Mate 50 handsets as tech giant continues to battle US sanctions
- The lack of sufficient supply appeared to be more severe for special editions of the phone, such as versions featuring tough Kunlun Glass
- Huawei’s latest efforts come amid stiff competition from major Chinese Android handset makers and Apple, which recently launched the iPhone 14
The latest Mate 50 series by Huawei Technologies Co has been selling out fast after the handsets officially went on sale from September 21, as the sanctions-hit tech giant attempts to stay relevant in the high-end smartphone market.
This Post reporter saw a handful of shoppers checking out the newly-launched handsets at Huawei’s flagship store in downtown Shenzhen around lunchtime on Thursday, a day after they officially went on sale. However, most of the models had already sold out with only the basic and Pro version in black colour still available at the shop.
The lack of sufficient supply appeared to be more severe for special editions of the phone, such as versions featuring Kunlun Glass, which gives superior protection against the screen being smashed, according to one sales person the Post spoke to. “Kunlun Glass is quite a sophisticated material so we have low inventory for the special versions. Our customers can try making a reservation online but we can’t promise they’ll be able to buy one.”
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The Mate 50 RS model featuring a Porsche design, the most luxurious model of the series with a price tag starting from 12,999 yuan (US$1,832), drew some admiring looks from shoppers.
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“I had the Porsche version of the Mate 40 series, and I’m still mulling whether I should upgrade to the new one,” one shopper said. “Having no 5G connectivity is still a problem for me though.”
Huawei’s latest efforts come amid stiff competition from major Chinese Android handset makers and Apple, which dominated the high-end smartphone segment with a 62 per cent global market share of handsets priced more than US$400 in the first quarter of this year, according to Counterpoint data.
The new smartphone releases are up against China’s overall declining handset market, battered by weaker consumer demand due to a slowing economy and disruptions in supply chains because of China’s strict Covid-19 control policies.
For the first seven months of 2022, total smartphone shipments in China reached 153 million units, down 23 per cent from the same period last year, according to the latest data by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
