Huawei surprises with presales of its latest Mate handset, as it seeks to revive smartphone unit following US sanctions
- The new model runs on Huawei’s latest Harmony 4.0 operating system and can access its self-developed Pangu AI model
- Huawei’s flagship store in Shenzhen was the only offline site where consumers could buy the phone in person on Tuesday
Huawei Technologies has launched surprise presales of its latest Mate flagship model on its online mall as the phone and network gear giant plots a revival of its smartphone business after it was hammered by US trade sanctions.
Shenzhen-based Huawei launched its Mate 60 Pro handset, priced at 6,999 yuan (US$962) and available in four colours, around noon on Tuesday on Vmall, touting it as the world’s first smartphone to support satellite calls.
The new model runs on Huawei’s latest Harmony 4.0 operating system and can access its self-developed Pangu artificial intelligence (AI) model, according to the company. However, precise details about the processor used in the handset or network connectivity were not available on the official website.
Huawei did not comment on which chip or network standard is being incorporated in the new handset.
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Demand on the online mall appeared high, with the web page displaying a message that “there are too many people waiting” when checked earlier.
Yuri Gu, a resident of southern Guangdong province, said she had been waiting for hours on Tuesday afternoon to buy the phone on Vmall and still had not been able to proceed with payment.
“Huawei smartphones usually have good signal strength, and the possibility of having 5G connectivity is even more intriguing,” Gu said.
Huawei’s flagship store in Shenzhen was the only offline site where consumers could buy the phone in person on Tuesday.
When a Post reporter visited at 6pm just after launch, there were around 25 customers lined up at the outlet in the city’s Nanshan district. Staff at the store were evasive about whether it is a 4G or 5G handset “because the company hasn’t announced it yet”.
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A salesperson said customers could refer to an online test video or check the connection speed by themselves. “I can only say it’s very fast,” the salesperson said.
Huawei also announced that shipments of its high-end Mate series have exceeded 100 million units since launch in 2013, according to an open letter to users.
The unexpected launch of the new Mate series, which usually falls in September or October to coincide with Apple’s annual iPhone update, is being watched closely by the industry as the company looks to revive its smartphone business.
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Huawei resumed the launch of its flagship P-series smartphone in April after a hiatus of more than a year. Its previous Mate-series handset was released last September after skipping an update in 2021. Those two models, however, only support 4G connectivity.
The company is expected to resume the release of 5G smartphones by the end of this year, as it gets a fresh supply of chips from local suppliers, according to a Reuters report last month that cited a number of research firms as sources.
