Huawei Technologies’ new Pura 70 series poses another threat to Apple in the world’s largest smartphone market, as the Chinese tech giant plans to regain the top spot on its home turf this year, analysts say.
The Pura 70 series is expected to generate global shipments of around 10.4 million this year, compared to the company’s previous P60 series which only shipped 1.8 million units and the Mate 60 Pro series which sold 6.2 million in China last year, according to a TechInsights report Thursday.
The Pura 70 series will be one of the main competitors to the iPhone 15 and 16 series in 2024, after Apple’s flagship models recorded double-digit annual declines in the mainland China market in the first quarter of this year, wrote Linda Sui, analyst at TechInsights. The report.
TechInsights predicts that Huawei would ship more than 50 million smartphones in China this year, allowing it to regain its number one position with 19% market share, up from 12% in 2023.
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Huawei’s Pura 70 Pro and Pura 70 Ultra were officially released on Thursday, priced at 10,999 yuan ($1,400) for the Ultra version. After weeks of speculation about the launch and pre-order details, online channels ran out of stock shortly after the sale began and long queues formed at the company’s physical stores .
One of Huawei’s flagship stores in Shenzhen, the company’s headquarters, on Friday saw customers queuing up just to make reservations, with no guarantee of when they would be able to receive their devices. Customers who successfully complete their reservation will receive a text message informing them of pickup arrangements within the next few days, according to a store representative Friday.
The Pura 70 series saw “good initial demand”, which was no surprise given Huawei’s premium brand and the marketing spin it created with “blind” pre-orders, a said Will Wong, senior research director for client devices at IDC Asia. -Peaceful.
The flagship models of the Mate and Pura series, formerly known as the P series, will help Huawei further advance in the Chinese smartphone market in 2024, after ranking fourth in the market in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Wong.
“There is a good chance [to be back in the top five]especially since Huawei now has a more comprehensive 5G product portfolio, 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 is Huawei’s biggest flagship phone launch since the Mate 60 Pro in August 2023, which attracted worldwide attention for its use of a Chinese-made processor, the Kirin. 9000s.
Although Huawei hasn’t revealed details about the processors that power the Pura 70 series, analysts believe the new lineup will use the company’s own Kirin chips. Some tech reviewers also posted test results on social media, showing that the high-end models in the series used 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 hampering its once-lucrative handset business.
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The Pura 70 series is expected to face some supply constraints, but Huawei has prepared to alleviate them, according to IDC’s Wong.