China's Huawei to launch 'milestone' smartphone with homegrown OS

Chinese tech giant Huawei will on Tuesday launch its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a key test in the firm's fight to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.

Apple's iOS and Google's Android are currently used in the vast majority of mobile phones, but Huawei is looking to change that with its newest Mate 70 devices, which run on the company's own HarmonyOS Next.

The launch caps a major turnaround in the fortunes of Huawei, which saw its wings clipped by gruelling US sanctions in recent years but has since bounced back with soaring sales.

"The search for a viable, scaleable mobile operating system largely free of Western company control has been a lengthy one in China," Paul Triolo, a Partner for China and Technology Policy Lead at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge Group, told AFP.

But the new smartphone -- also powered by an advanced domestically produced chip -- shows Chinese tech firms can "persevere", he said.

The Mate 70 is set to be unveiled at a company launch event on Tuesday afternoon at its Shenzhen headquarters.

More than three million have been pre-ordered, according to Huawei's online shopping platform, though that does not require them to be purchased.

The risks are high -- unlike a previous iteration, based on Android's open-source code, HarmonyOS Next requires a complete rewiring of all apps on the smartphones it powers.

"HarmonyOS Next is the first home-grown operating system, a milestone for China to move away from reliance on Western technologies for software with performance improvement," Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, told AFP.

But, "while Chinese firms may be willing to allocate resources to contribute to Huawei's ecosystem, there are challenges to whether HarmonyOS Next can offer the same number of apps and functionalities to global consumers", Ng said.

'HIGH EXPECTATIONS'

Huawei found itself at the centre of an intense tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington, with US officials warning its equipment could be used to spy on behalf of Chinese authorities -- allegations they deny.

Since 2019, US sanctions have cut Huawei off from global supply chains for technology and US-made components, a move that initially hammered its production of smartphones.

That fight is only set to intensify underUS President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised huge tariffs on Chinese imports in response to what he says are Beijing's unfair trade practices.

"Rather than Huawei inspiring the tech industry as a whole, it is the self-reliance trend of the Chinese tech industry that has made Huawei's progress possible," Toby Zhu, a senior analyst at technology research firm Canalys, told AFP.

The success of Huawei's new generation of smartphone products will be a key gauge of whether that drive has worked, said Zhu.

"This generation of products cannot afford to miss the mark because everyone has high expectations for them," he added.

Huawei was once China's largest domestic smartphone maker before it became embroiled in a tech war between Washington and Beijing.

The company shipped more than 10.8 million smartphone units in the third quarter -- capturing just 16 percent of the Chinese market, according to a recent Canalys report.

In September the firm unveiled the world's first triple-folding phone at more than three times the price of the newest iPhone, the Mate XT, priced at an eye-watering $2,800.

The Mate 70 is unlikely to cost that much -- while its price is not yet public, its predecessor launched with a starting price of $750.

And it's unclear whether developers overseas will be willing to spend the money needed to build a completely new version of their apps for the latest smartphones, Rich Bishop, co-founder and CEO of AppInChina, a publisher of international software in China, told AFP.

One third-party agency in China quoted a price of two million yuan ($275,500) to custom-fit a foreign app for HarmonyOS Next, he said.

To convince them, "Huawei needs to continuously improve the software, provide better support for developers, and convince the developer community that it is committed to the long-term development of the Harmony ecosystem", said Triolo.

Agence France-Presse

India raids offices of Chinese smartphone maker Vivo

MUMBAI, India—Chinese smartphone maker Vivo said Tuesday it was "cooperating with authorities" in India after reports investigators raided dozens of its offices on suspicion of money laundering.

The searches make Vivo the latest Chinese tech company to face scrutiny by Indian investigative agencies, after similar raids against Xiaomi and Huawei earlier this year.

A Vivo spokesperson confirmed that the Enforcement Directorate -- India's financial crime-fighting agency -- had raided multiple locations and seized company property.

"Vivo is cooperating with the authorities to provide them with all required information," the spokesperson told AFP. "We are committed to be fully compliant with laws."

Vivo specializes in budget handsets and had carved out 15 percent of India's competitive smartphone market by last year, data from tech research firm Counterpoint showed.

Multi-year sponsorships of popular sporting events such as the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament have helped Vivo's brand become a household name in India since its market debut in 2012.

Vivo's parent company BBK Electronics also owns rival brand Oppo, which sells OnePlus and Realme smartphones and tablets.

Relations between India and China have been at a low ebb since a deadly Himalayan military stand-off between both nations in 2020. 

In the aftermath, India's home ministry banned hundreds of mobile applications of Chinese origin, including the hugely popular social media platform TikTok. 

The government justified the bans as a necessary safeguard against threats to India's sovereignty.

Anti-China sentiment has grown in India since the fatal 2020 troop clash, sparking calls for consumer boycotts of Chinese goods.

But China continues to be a key economic partner for India, with more than $125 billion in bilateral trade last year.

Vivo manufactures 50 million devices and employs 10,000 Indians at a factory near the capital New Delhi, the spokesperson told AFP.

India is home to the second-highest number of smartphone users after China.

Its smartphone market grew 27 percent year-on-year in 2021, according to Counterpoint, with annual sales exceeding 169 million units.

Agence France-Presse

Oppo, Xiaomi rise in smartphone rankings, filling the Huawei void left by US sanctions

Chinese smartphone makers Oppo and Vivo have risen in the rankings at home, with Xiaomi seeing big gains overseas, benefiting from the struggles of Huawei Technologies Co amid harsh US sanctions.

Oppo became China’s No 1 smartphone brand in January for the first time, making up 21 per cent of the market, according to the latest data released by Counterpoint Research on Friday. The company’s sales grew 33 per cent over the previous month, aided by the launch of the Reno 5 series of smartphones in the affordable premium segment, along with Huawei’s decline. Vivo came in second place with 20 per cent market share. Vivo and Oppo, along with OnePlus and Realme, are owned by BBK Electronics.

Huawei, which once held a dominant lead in China’s smartphone market, fell to third place, tied with Apple and Xiaomi at 16 per cent market share each.

“Oppo’s growth was in part also driven by Huawei’s decline, a trend that also benefited Xiaomi and Vivo,” Counterpoint analyst Varun Mishra said in the firm’s report. “Xiaomi is benefiting the most from the decline in Huawei’s online share, while Oppo and Vivo have been capturing the offline segment.”

Even after the initial US sanctions against Huawei in 2019, it was able to fend off rivals. The Shenzhen-based company’s hardware was widely praised and it benefited from nationalist pride at home. Being cut off from Google apps and services bruised international sales, but that was not a problem in China, where Google is blocked and Google Play Services are not preloaded on Android phones. However, tightening US sanctions last year banned foreign chip makers that use US technology from selling to Huawei without approval, cutting the company off from foundries needed to make its high-end Kirin processors, leading the company to sell its budget smartphone brand Honor to a consortium of partners in November.

“The good thing for Huawei in China is that the lack of Google services is not an issue there, but the company still faces a diminishing stockpile of smartphone components,” said IDC vice-president of client devices Bryan Ma. “Even if it can secure new agreements with suppliers this year, those will likely be for older technologies like 4G rather than leading-edge parts that it could’ve used to show that it is ahead of the curve.”

Counterpoint’s Mishra said Huawei’s decline will continue in 2021, with other smartphone makers continuing to fill the gap.

Competitors are already capitalising on Huawei’s misfortunes. Oppo sped up its mobile chip making capabilities with a hiring spree last May. The smartphone maker boosted production by over 50 per cent, business news publication Caxin reported in September.

Huawei also faces continuing decline overseas. Oppo and Vivo surpassed Huawei in January to capture the fourth and fifth spots in the global market, respectively, according to Counterpoint.

Counterpoint analyst Yang Wang said Xiaomi and Oppo are also set to benefit the most from Huawei’s fall globally, with their sales projected to increase by around 30 per cent each in 2021, followed by Vivo.

“These three brands have been aggressive with market entry initiatives around the world throughout 2020, most notably in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East,” Wang said. “It is also worth noting that these three brands are traditionally strong in the mid-tier segments, which also happened to be where Huawei was most active in overseas markets.”

Fourth quarter numbers from IDC show Huawei’s global market share tumbled 42.4 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year, which Ma said included shipments of Honor phones. Honor accounted for up to a third of Huawei’s volumes at some points last year, he added.

“Western Europe is a good example of Huawei’s woes,” Ma said.

Huawei was the second-largest smartphone brand in Western Europe in the first quarter of 2019 with 28.3 per cent of the market, according to Ma. By the last quarter of 2020, it had fallen to No 4 with 3.9 per cent.

The biggest winner in the region was Xiaomi, which saw sales in Europe grow 90 per cent last year, according to Counterpoint.

In Latin America, Xiaomi became the third-largest brand for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2020, behind Samsung and Motorola, according to a separate report by Counterpoint last week. It came in fourth in the region for the whole year.

Huawei was still the third-biggest smartphone brand in Latin America for all of 2020, but it fell out of the top five in the fourth quarter.

“Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi all took advantage of Huawei’s weakening position,” said Counterpoint analyst Tina Lu.

Huawei’s fall last year was precipitous. Just last summer, the company briefly became the world’s top smartphone seller, wresting the crown from South Korean giant Samsung Electronics. But new sanctions from the US in August quickly took a toll, effectively cutting off Huawei from most global chip suppliers.

Huawei is forecast to be able to produce only 70 to 80 million handsets this year, according to a report by Nikkei, a significant decline from the 189 million units that IDC shows the company shipped last year. Research company TrendForce predicts that the smartphone maker will fall to seventh place globally in 2021.

Plunging supplies of Huawei phones are also forcing franchise retailers to close stores in China or switch to selling other domestic brands.

Despite offloading Honor, the company has been unwavering in its support for its own branded smartphones.

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said in February that the company will not give up on its “terminal devices” business, which analysts say is an integral part of the company’s overall business strategy.

-South China Morning Post

Huawei, controversial in the West, is going strong in the Gulf

DUBAI - Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is enjoying an extended honeymoon with oil-rich Gulf nations, despite being criticized in the United States and Europe as a potential security threat. 

Arab Gulf countries -- strategic partners of Washington that are seeking to diversify their economies -- are investing heavily in the sector as their appetite for technology grows.

Huawei has struggled in recent years in the face of US sanctions, as Washington claims it has close ties to China's military and that Beijing could use its equipment for espionage -- accusations the company denies.

Britain and Sweden have banned the use of Huawei equipment in their 5G networks, while France has also imposed restrictions. 

Yet Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have not only chosen Huawei for their 5G rollouts, but have also partnered with the company to develop "smart cities."

These feature enhanced digital services and security surveillance -- a Huawei speciality Gulf states value highly for monitoring their populations.

Gulf countries' "use of technologies for population surveillance is closer to the practices of China than those of Western countries," said Camille Lons, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Concerns about Huawei voiced in the US and Europe "weren't convincing" in the region, she told AFP.

Mitigating 'political pressures' 

While the telecoms giant has had a strong presence in the Gulf since the 1990s, its deals and big announcements there have multiplied in recent years.

In January, Saudi Arabia announced it would open the largest Huawei store outside China in Riyadh, a few months after a deal with the company on developing artificial intelligence to support public and private sector growth.

Last summer, Saudi investment firm Batic cemented a deal with Huawei to work on "smart city" projects in the kingdom, where it is already a main partner in the Yanbu Smart Industrial City project on the Red Sea.

Huawei has also developed apps and digital infrastructure to support Muslim pilgrims visiting Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest sites.

"By gaining the trust of our partners in the Middle East, we have been able to mitigate external political pressures like those pursued by the US," Charles Yang, Huawei's Middle East chief, told AFP from the company's headquarters in Dubai.

In the high-tech emirate, one of 7 that make up the UAE, Huawei has launched projects ranging from data storage to online payment services for public transport networks. 

Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, last year chose Huawei to build a center to boost the company's surveillance and security capabilities.

An Emirates spokesperson declined to elaborate on the precise nature of the technology, but said "such solutions are utilized... around the world primarily for public safety and security reasons."

'Risk' for the US

China remains one of the Gulf's leading trade partners.

UN figures show its 2019 trade with Saudi Arabia -- the world's largest exporter of crude oil -- reached about $36.4 billion, while with the UAE it exceeded $50 billion.

"Digital infrastructure has become a key pillar of (Gulf states') national transformation strategies," Yang said.

Huawei said this month it hoped for a reset with Washington, after former US president Donald Trump targeted the firm as part of an intensifying China-US trade and technology standoff.

But Lons from the International Institute for Strategic Studies warned the apparent Huawei-Gulf honeymoon could cause security worries for the US.

She noted the presence of American military bases in the region, and that Gulf countries are "major buyers of US military equipment."

There could be concerns about the "risk that sensitive US military information or technology is being spied on and transferred to China," she said.

Agence France-Presse

Huawei plummets as Apple becomes world’s No 1 smartphone seller on China boost

Huawei Technologies Co tumbled down the rankings of global smartphone sellers in the last quarter as it struggled under US sanctions, while Apple shot to the top on the back of strong demand for its latest iPhones.

Smartphone manufacturers around the world shipped roughly 4 per cent more units year on year in the fourth quarter of 2020, reaching almost 386 million units, according to research firm IDC. Huawei, which came second in the previous quarter, sank to the fifth place with around 32 million handsets shipped.

Analysts at Canalys placed Huawei’s ranking even lower at the sixth place, marking the first time in six years that the Chinese giant has fallen outside the top five.

More than half of those shipments went to China, where Huawei retained the top spot but saw its market share drop 22 per cent from 41 per cent in the third quarter, Canalys figures showed. Those shipments included handsets made by Honor, the sub-brand that Huawei sold in November.

“It is possibly Huawei’s toughest time as it is restrained to even serve its home market,” said Canalys vice-president of mobility Nicole Peng in a report.

“Huawei’s sell-in shipments shrunk by nearly half sequentially despite huge demand for Huawei devices, as the vendor is unable to fulfil this demand in the foreseeable future. Other vendors are eyeing this opportunity.”

The dramatic decline underscores the challenge that Huawei is facing under increasing US pressure. Just last summer, it briefly became the world’s top smartphone seller, wresting the crown from South Korean giant Samsung. But the Shenzhen-based telecoms equipment maker has since struggled under fresh sanctions from Washington that cut off its access to vital chips made with US software or technology.

Huawei was expected to fall further this year to the seventh place in global smartphone shipments, according to a forecast by research company TrendForce in January.

The outlook could not look more different for Apple, which reached a historic milestone last quarter.

The Californian titan topped global rankings with nearly 82 million handsets shipped worldwide, according to Canalys. IDC put the number at over 90 million – the most units that any vendor has shipped in a quarter since the firm started tracking smartphone shipments.

In China, Apple also recorded remarkable performance. While it still lagged market leader Huawei, Apple grew its share from 15 per cent a year ago to 18 per cent in the fourth quarter, Canalys estimated.

“Apple had a great year in China, where full-year shipments finally returned to the 2018 level, driven by both iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models,” said Canalys analyst Amber Liu.

On Wednesday, Apple reported its highest ever quarterly revenue in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. Strong demand for Apple’s first 5G phones – the iPhone 12 series that launched in October, a month later than usual – contributed to a 57 per cent jump in China sales.

Apple CEO Tim Cook attributed the record sales to Chinese consumers’ affinity for 5G. The country has been pushing ahead with the expansion of 5G networks and most flagship smartphones launched by major Chinese brands last year included 5G.

“Keep in mind that 5G in China is … well established. And the overwhelming majority of phones being sold are 5G phones. And so I think there was some level of anticipation for us delivering an iPhone with 5G,” he said on the earnings call.

Experts said Apple also benefited from the challenges facing Huawei, its primary rival in premium phones. Even though Samsung competes with Apple in the high-end segment elsewhere, it has a negligible market share in mainland China.

Despite its edge, Apple did not skimp on marketing efforts for the iPhone 12, said Canalys’ Liu.

“Aggressive online promotions across e-commerce players, coupled with widely available trade-in plans and interest-free instalments with major banks, drove Apple to its stellar performance,” she said.

-South China Morning Post-

Huawei selling Honor brand to consortium of agents and dealers to keep the unit alive

SHENZHEN, China - Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is selling its budget brand smartphone unit Honor to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers in a bid to keep it alive, the company and the consortium said on Tuesday.

The deal comes after U.S. restrictions on supplying Huawei Technologies on grounds the firm is a national security threat - which it denies.

The consortium issued a statement on Tuesday announcing the purchase, which will be made via a new company, Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology.

Huawei will not hold any shares in the new Honor company after the sale, the statement said.

In Huawei's statement, the company said its consumer business has been under "tremendous pressure" due to the "persistent unavailability of technical elements" for its phone business.

"This move has been made by Honor's industry chain to ensure its own survival," Huawei said.

The change of ownership will not impact Honor's development direction, both statements said.

No figure for the deal was given.

Sources with knowledge of the matter say the U.S. government restrictions have forced the world's second-biggest smartphone maker - after South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd - to focus on high-end handsets and corporate-oriented business.

One source said on Tuesday the U.S. government will have no reason to apply sanctions to Honor after it separates from Huawei.

Honor sells smartphones through its own websites and third-party retailers in China, where it competes with Xiaomi Corp, Oppo and Vivo in the lower-priced handset market. It also sells phones in Southeast Asia and Europe, and ships 70 million units annual, according to the Huawei statement.

Electronics products and appliance store Suning.com 002024.SZ is listed among the buyers, which include several state-owned investment firms in Huawei's hometown of Shenzhen.

Honor will look for more investment partners in the future, with the possibility of an eventual listing, the source said.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Huawei was in talks to sell Honor in a 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) deal to a consortium led by handset distributor Digital China and the government of Shenzhen.

The source said Digital China was not part of the final buyer group.

Huawei has said its higher-end smartphone line is under threat from the U.S. sanctions, with the head of its consumer business saying in August that it would be unable to continue making the Kirin chips that power its premium models.

-reuters-

Huawei revenue growth wilts under 'intense pressure'

SHANGHAI - Huawei’s revenue growth slowed significantly in the first nine months of 2020, the Chinese telecom giant said Friday, citing "intense pressure" on operations during the coronavirus and as the US moves to cut off its access to vital components.

Huawei, the leading global supplier of telecoms networking equipment and a top smartphone producer, said it grossed 671.3 billion yuan ($100.7 billion) in revenue in January-September, up 9.9 percent year-on-year.

That’s down from 24.4 percent growth over the same period last year, while its profit margin fell to 8.0 percent from 8.7 percent last year.

Washington views Huawei, founded in 1987 by former People's Liberation Army engineer Ren Zhengfei, as a Chinese espionage threat and has lobbied allies to shun its gear while attempting to block its access to global semiconductor supplies.

"As the world grapples with Covid-19, Huawei’s global supply chain was put under intense pressure and its production and operations saw increasing difficulties," the company said.

It vowed to "do its best to find solutions, to survive and forge ahead". 

The brief announcement made no direct reference to the US pressure, nor did it include a performance breakdown for its various segments, such as smartphone sales. Privately held Huawei provides such details only for half-year and full-year earnings.

Bad news has been mounting for Huawei, which the United States alleges is controlled by Beijing. 

Washington fears Huawei's equipment could contain security holes that China could use for spying but the firm and the Chinese government reject the claim, saying the US has never provided any evidence.

Washington has essentially barred Huawei from the lucrative US market and pressured allies to do the same.

Britain in July banned mobile providers from using Huawei equipment in their new 5G networks, giving British companies until 2027 to rip out any existing hardware.

France has also placed heavy restrictions on use of Huawei gear and Sweden this week banned thje company and Chinese rival ZTE from its own 5G network for security reasons.

Writing on the wall

Much of the full impact from the US measures to cut off access to semiconductors and other components has been postponed so far by the Trump administration's granting of a series of waivers delaying full implementation while it carried out long-running talks on a trade deal with China.

But analysts said the writing is on the wall for Huawei, which will likely need to make major business adjustments.

US moves to prevent Huawei's access to much of the Google Android system could damage its global market position on smartphones, said Marc Einstein, Chief Analyst at ITR Corporation in Tokyo.

But it should remain strong in China's domestic market, and Huawei maintains a solid foothold in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, even if more developed markets such as Europe appear to be closing.

"It's completely feasible that if a huge (US-China) trade deal is reached, some of these challenges could recede," Einstein said.

"Huawei is not going anywhere."

Huawei overtook Samsung as the world's top smartphone seller in the second quarter on strong domestic demand, industry tracker Canalys said in July, adding that it was the first quarter in nine years that a company other than the South Korean giant or Apple held the top spot.

Huawei said last month that its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones from early next year as it rushes to build an alternative app ecosystem.

Phil Marshall, chief research officer with Tolaga Research, said Huawei may "lose some of the edge" that it enjoys in networking gear and 5G technologies, but that it had racked up so many 5G patents over the years that it should remain a global player.

The US pressure also will force Huawei to achieve tech self-reliance by making its own chips.

"We know how successful they have proven to be at developing technology. You just can't rule them out," Marshall said.

Agence France-Presse

Huawei releases OS source code in push for own ecosystem

SHANGHAI, China - Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday said its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones early next year, as it pushes to build an alternative app ecosystem after the US barred it from using Google's Android.

The source code for HarmonyOS will be made available beginning in December to software developers who create apps for smartphones, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer products division.

HarmonyOS is so far used only with certain products including smart TVs, in-car entertainment systems and wearable devices, not the company's smartphones.

Huawei is the number-two smartphone producer in the world after Samsung, but tech market analysis firm Canalys said Huawei surpassed the South Korean company in the virus-affected second quarter. 

Huawei is facing an intense campaign by the United States to isolate the firm, saying it poses a cybersecurity threat. Both Huawei and China's government deny the accusation.

The US has been pushing allies to shun products made by Huawei, which is also the global market leader for 5G and other telecom-network equipment.

The Trump administration has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and introduced a series of steadily escalating moves to cut off its access to the computer chips and other technology the company needs to survive.

Huawei's announcement on HarmonyOS was made at an annual software developers conference that it organises at its headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The move indicates Huawei intends to push ahead with plans to create its own ecosystem, a challenge analysts say is daunting in a world dominated by Android and Apple's iOS.

Yu, however, expressed hope that China's huge smartphone market, the world's largest, could remain a safe space and a platform for drawing global users to HarmonyOS.

"We are dedicated to introducing Chinese developers’ work to global consumers, hoping to see more TikToks in the future," said Yu, a reference to the wildly popular Chinese-owned short-form video app that also is now in Trump's crosshairs.

Yu also said overseas developers could continue to find a large market among Chinese users via HarmonyOS.

"We would like to be the bridge in between," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Huawei overtakes Samsung as top smartphone seller: industry tracker

BEIJING - China's Huawei has overtaken Samsung to become the number-one smartphone seller worldwide in the second quarter on the back of strong domestic demand, industry tracker Canalys said Thursday.

Canalys said the embattled firm, which is facing US sanctions and falling overseas sales, shipped 55.8 million devices -- overtaking Samsung for the first time, which shifted 53.7 million units.

The findings marked the first quarter in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple has led the market, Canalys said.

US sanctions had "stifled" Huawei's business outside mainland China, the research group added, but it had grown to dominate its substantial home market.

More than 70 percent of Huawei smartphones are now sold in the country, Canalys said, where Samsung has a very small share of the market.

Huawei said in a statement it was a sign of "exceptional resilience".

Overseas shipments, however, fell nearly a third in the second quarter and Canalys analyst Mo Jia warned that strength in China alone "will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover".

"Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk," Mo said.

Huawei -- the world's top producer of telecoms networking equipment -- has become a pivotal issue in the geopolitical standoff between Beijing and Washington, which claims the firm poses a significant cybersecurity threat. 

GLOBAL TENSIONS

Washington has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and waged a global campaign to isolate the company.

The British government bowed to growing US pressure and pledged earlier this month to remove Huawei from its 5G network by 2027, despite warnings of retaliation from Beijing.

The politically-fraught change requires companies to stop buying new 5G equipment from Huawei starting next year and strip out existing gear by the end of 2027.

On Wednesday the US ambassador in Brasilia warned of "consequences" if Brazil chooses Huawei for the project to develop the next generation of telecommunications technology in Latin America's most populous country.

Australia and Japan have taken steps to block or restrict the Chinese company's participation in their 5G rollouts, and European telecoms operators including Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia have passed over Huawei as a supplier.

The US has also requested the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on fraud charges, further damaging relations between China and Canada, where she is under house arrest.

Meng, the Chinese telecom giant's chief financial officer, was arrested on a US warrant in December 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver and has been fighting extradition ever since.

Agence France-Presse

Britain bans China's Huawei, handing US big win

LONDON - Britain on Tuesday bowed to growing US pressure and ordered the phased removal of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network despite warnings of retaliation from Beijing.

The policy reversal hands a long-sought victory to US President Donald Trump's administration in its geopolitical tug-of-war with China.

The White House said the decision "reflects a growing international consensus that Huawei and other untrusted vendors pose a threat to national security, as they remain beholden to the Chinese Communist Party".

But the move threatens to further damage Britain's ties with the Asian power and carries a big cost for UK mobile providers that have relied on Huawei equipment for nearly 20 years.

Huawei called it "politicized" and likely to put Britain "in the digital slow lane".

The politically-fraught change in Britain's digital future was made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a meeting with his cabinet and National Security Council.

It requires companies to stop buying new 5G equipment from Huawei starting next year and strip out existing gear by the end of 2027.

"This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy," digital minister Oliver Dowden told parliament.

US SANCTIONS

Johnson infuriated Trump and upset some members of his own Conservative party by allowing the Chinese leader in global 5G technology to help roll out Britain's speedy new data network in January.

The UK was then completing its tortuous departure from the European Union and looking to establish strong ties with powerful Asian economies that could fulfill Johnson's vision of a "Global Britain".

But the Trump administration told the UK government that its choice imperiled intelligence sharing because British signals could be intercepted or manipulated by China.

Washington believes the private company can also shut down rival countries' 5G networks under Beijing's orders in times of war.

Huawei has always denied this and pointed to two decades of cooperation with British security agencies that checked on the safety of its existing 3G and 4G networks.

The British review was triggered by Washington sanctions in May that blocked Huawei's access to US chips at the heart of 5G networks.

The sanctions did not impact older 3G and 4G providers and Britain left its guidance for those networks unchanged.

'OUTAGES'

Johnson had come under intensifying pressure to not only dump Huawei but also adopt a tough line with China for its treatment of Hong Kong and repression of ethnic Uighurs in the western Xinjiang region.

But he also pledged to voters last year to bring broadband access to all Britons by 2025.

British telecoms companies had lobbied strongly against the policy reversal because of the cost of taking existing equipment out and finding untested alternatives.

Dowden conceded Britons will now have to wait longer to get full access to the speedy new network.

"This means a cumulative delay to 5G roll-out of two to three years and costs of up to £2 billion ($2.5 billion, 2.2 billion euros)," he said. 

"This will have real consequences for the connections on which all our constituents rely."

But officials insisted that Huawei had managed to install only a "small amount" of equipment since the 5G system began being offered to UK consumers last year.

DIVERSIFICATION

Johnson has challenged the Trump administration to come up with a reliable and cost-effective alternative to the Chinese firm.

Britain is pushing for the creation of a 5G club of nations that can pool their resources and provide individual components for an alternative solution that could be applied across the world.

The UK government said the process would begin with South Korea's Samsung and Japan's NEC -- two veterans with broad production capabilities -- while offering protection for Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson to ensure they remained viable players in the field.

Ericsson's regional head Arun Bansal said his firm was "ready to work with the UK operators to meet their timetable, with no disruption to customers".

Nokia's chief executive for UK and Ireland, Cormac Whelan, said the firm also has "the capacity and expertise to replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK's networks at scale and speed".

But UK officials caution that all existing players have some Huawei equipment in their supply chains that need to be taken into account.

-Dmitry Zaks, Agence France-Presse-

Sweden's Ericsson sees 190 million 5G subscriptions by year end

STOCKHOLM - Sweden's Ericsson has almost doubled its global forecast for 5G mobile subscriptions to 190 million by the end of this year, due to faster than expected uptake in China.

The telecoms equipment maker, which had previously forecast 100 million subscriptions by the end of 2020, said it had made small downward adjustments for other parts of the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"For example, several spectrum auctions in Europe have been delayed, with a slower uptake of 5G subscriptions in the near term expected as a result," it said in its biannual Mobility Report.

Ericsson nudged down its 5G subscriptions forecast for 2020 and 2021 in North America, but maintained 2025 forecasts for both Europe and North America.

It also confirmed it had raised its forecast for global 5G subscriptions to 2.8 billion by 2025, or around 30 percent of all mobile subscriptions, from 2.6 billion previously.

"Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, service providers continued to switch on 5G, and more than 75 of them have now announced commercial 5G service launches," Ericsson said.

The mobile network industry has faced waning demand for 4G and older network equipment, but 5G spending in North America has helped to fuel a return to growth.

Ericsson, which competes with China's Huawei and Finland's Nokia, said 4G would remain the dominant mobile access technology by subscriptions during 2020 to 2025, with 5.1 billion in 2022 and 4.4 billion expected by the end of 2025.

But in 2025, 5G networks will carry nearly half of the world’s mobile data traffic, it forecast.

The new generation of mobile phone technology will bring faster data speeds and support a greater variety of connected devices. 

-reuters-

5G in a midrange smartphone: Huawei launches Nova 7 SE

MANILA -- Huawei on Monday launched the Nova 7 SE 5G in the Philippines, the first mid-range device to offer the next-generation wireless standard in the country.

The latest in the Nova series, which offers features comparable to premium phones at half the cost, has a 6.5-inch screen in a glass body. It also comes with 4 rear cameras.

The new Nova is the first mid-level phone in the Philippines with 5G, said Huawei country head George Li. Huawei also offers 5G on the premium variant of the Mate 30 Pro and the P40 series.

"5G is not just about connecting things, it's about connecting intelligence," said Merouanne Debbah, Director of the Huawei Mathematical and Algorithmic Sciences Lab.

Using 5G, artificial intelligence in Huawei phones harnesses voice and image recognition, said Debbah.

The cameras on the Nova 7 5G are stacked in a rectangle-shaped vertical module. It has a 64MP wide lens, an 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro lens. The 16MP front facing camera has noise reduction and night mode for selfies.

The Nova 7 5G is powered by Huawei's own Kirin 820 chip and packs a 4,000 mAh battery than can charge at 40 watts. Huawei said the phone can juice up to 70 percent in 30 minutes.

It will retail for P19,990. Pre-order customers from June 12 to 21 will get Freelace Bluetooth earbuds and cloud storage.

news.abs-cbn.com

World smartphone shipments to fall 12 percent this year on virus woes: IDC

Global smartphone shipments will fall nearly 12 percent to 1.2 billion units in 2020, market research firm IDC said on Wednesday, citing lower consumer spending due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted business supply chains, with major smartphone makers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd flagging financial hits, but also squeezed consumer spending worldwide.

"Nationwide lockdowns and rising unemployment have reduced consumer confidence and reprioritized spending towards essential goods, directly impacting the uptake of smartphones in the short term", said Sangeetika Srivastava, senior research analyst with IDC.


Apple, which was forced to shut retail stores in the United States and Europe following the outbreak, introduced discounts on the iPhone 11 in China and released a new low-price SE model to weather a plunge in global smartphone demand.

Research firm TrendForce said in April it expected global smartphone production to slump a record 16.5 percent in the June quarter from a year earlier.

That follows a 10 percent drop in output worldwide in the March quarter, when the outbreak spread and peaked in China before sweeping through Europe and the United States.

However, shipments from China's factories to vendors rose 17% in April from a year earlier, suggesting signs of an early rebound in domestic demand in the world's largest smartphone market.

In China, where the economy has begun to reopen and factories have resumed operations, IDC expects a single-digit decline in this year.

The research firm also expects upcoming 5G deployment to help the recovery of smartphone shipments next year, adding it does not expect growth to return until the first quarter of 2021.

-reuters-

Huawei's MateBook X Pro makes case for premium, touchscreen laptop

MANILA -- Huawei on Wednesday debuted the MateBook X Pro in the Philippines, the latest in a stream of low key launches for premium products with most of the world on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shenzhen-based Huawei is promising powerful performance in a sleek, stealthy metal frame, aiming squarely at the top of the premium everyday laptop heap.

With a 91-percent screen-to-body ratio that trumps the Macbook Pro, the 3K (3000 x 2000) 13.9 inch panel offers an immersive experience. Text and images are sharp and the screen is bright enough to keep it at around 70 percent in our initial tests.

The 10-point touch screen offers a new way of interacting with the device which can make work faster by easing the burden on the trackpad. Think using an iPad pro as a work machine, but with a reliable keyboard.

The screen is meant to be touched, Huawei said, made out of Gorilla Glass with an anti-fingerprint coating.

The wide keyboard with backlit keys feels solid when typing and hides the camera in the topmost row, as in the MateBook D15. The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor for added security.

Huawei is positioning its laptops like its smartphones in terms of battery endurance. The 57 Wh lasted for a full day of work from home in our initial test. The bundled 65-watt charger also supercharges Huawei smartphones and wireless earbuds cases.

The MateBook X Pro comes with Huawei Share for seamless file sharing between phone and laptop. It runs on the 10th generation Intel Core i7 with 16GB RAM and 512GB to 1TB of internal storage.

We will be coming out with a full review in the coming weeks. Here are the full specifications.

The MateBook X Pro will retail for P119,990. Pre-order customers from April 15 to 24 will get P11,990 worth of freebies: a backpack, mouse and Freebuds 3 wireless earphones.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei courts more developers in app rivalry with Google, Apple

MANILA -- Huawei called on developers to join its growing app marketplace, present in some 400 million devices, as it released its second premium smartphone with its own mobile services front and center.

AppGallery, available in 170 countries and with 1.3 million developers on board is the third biggest app store and Huawei recently offered $1 billion in incentives to catch up with Google and Apple.

Like the Mate 30 series from the last quarter if 2019, the P40 series which launched last March ships with Android, running on Huawei Mobile Services instead of its Google counterpart.

"We warmly welcome every app developer worldwide to joint the Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem to bring the best experience to Huawei users," Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu said during the P40 series virtual launch.

Notwithstanding the US sales ban, Huawei in 2019 shipped 240 million smartphones worldwide, said Yanmin Wang, President of Eco-partnership and Eco-development.

"That big customer base will enable us to develop a new mobile ecosystem," Wang said. "To create a new mobile ecosystem, we must have the new tech new approach."


FOCUS ON SECURITY

The AppGallery is built with a focus on security as apps have access to users' personal data and passwords, even bank information and fingerprints, said Wang during a recent developers' conference.

"All this personal data can be very risky," Wang sand. "Customers want a reliable, secure mobile ecosystem."

Developers need to authenticate with their real names before their app is released to prevent fake accounts that push out apps with malware. This also makes it easier for Huawei to monitor and ban developers when necessary, the company said.

During download, 4 layers of security are in place to protect user data, Huawei said. The platform can detect malicious behavior including eavesdropping and taking screenshots without consent, it said.

"By combining the intelligent detection methods and manual real-name authentication, AppGallery provides full-fledged coverage for users against most conceivable threats," Huawei said.

80 APPS PER DEVICE

Developers should build apps that encourage user engagement, said Jaime Gonzalo, Vice President of Huawei Mobile Services.

The average user has 80 apps on his or her device and the number can swell to 100 in developed countries, he said.

Android, the world's biggest mobile operating system, has 2.9 million apps, with 6,000 more added daily. Half of the world's mobile users download zero apps per month. A quarter of mobile users install less than 2 apps per month, he said.

"Users are very hard to acquire and very easy to lose," Gonzalo told developers.

The AppGallery is going "glocal" by ensuring that popular apps in a certain region are available on the platform. Agoda, for example, is the choice of the Asian market while Booking.com is for Europe, he said.

In the Philippine, AppGallery has grown its offerings. Dance video sharing app TikTok was the top download at the start of the Luzon lockdown. It also offers e-wallet apps PayMaya and GCash, offering millions on quarantine the opportunity to transact cashless.

Other popular apps on AppGallery include: Booking.com, Lazada, Camera 360, Lazada-Online Shopping & Deals, Shopee, SHAREit, Viber Messenger, SnapChat, BDO Personal Banking, Merriam Webster Dictionary, Globe Rewards, Speed Test, WeChat, Klook, WeSing, PhotoGrid, Philippine Airlines, CLiQQby7-Eleven, Booky, iFlix, WPS, MetroBank, Union Bank Online, SSS, Viu, Trivago, Traveloka, Wattpad, Eastwest Bank, Meralco, Canva and AliExpress.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei boss raises research budget to $20 billion, defying pandemic

Huawei Technologies is stepping up investments in research and development this year, despite challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and US government sanctions.

The world's largest telecommunications equipment supplier and China's biggest smartphone maker expects to raise that investment to $20 billion, up from $15 billion last year, according to Ren Zhengfei, the company's founder and chief executive.

"Over 200,000 scientists, experts and engineers worked overtime during the Lunar New Year holiday because we're racing to develop new (technologies)," Ren, 75, said in an interview with the SCMP this week. Without elaborating, he referred to the work in progress as "something which will keep us ahead of the global competition".

Shenzhen-based Huawei was already on the front foot before the coronavirus outbreak gripped China and spread around the world because of pressure from Washington on its 5G network equipment business.

"The US will continue to increase sanctions on us, and we will have to complete (the new technologies) before that happens," Ren said.

The Trump administration added Huawei to the US trade blacklist in May last year, restricting the company's ability to buy hardware, software and services from American hi-tech suppliers.

While Washington has since granted 5 license extensions to Huawei that allowed it to temporarily access American suppliers, US President Donald Trump earlier this month signed legislation to bar the country's telecoms carriers from using government subsidies to buy network gear from the Chinese company. The US has also continued to urge its allies in Europe to ditch Huawei equipment in their roll-out of 5G mobile networks.

"It's not a problem for us to survive as a company, but it's questionable whether we can keep our leading position," Ren said. "We won't be able to lead the world in the next three to five years if we cannot develop our own technology."

Still, Ren said neither the US sanctions nor the pandemic has had a major impact on Huawei's operations: "We believe the impact is minimal, and we can pull through it."

Huawei has resumed more than 90 percent of its production and development operations, he said. The company has also kept its supply chain mostly intact by helping provide its partners with protective gear for workers to keep production going.

China turned to hi-tech tools in a big way to provide the nation with a sense of normalcy in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. That approach is predicted to become the norm across the country, as businesses reopen after being shut down during the height of the crisis.

"The outbreak has exposed the vulnerability of some offline businesses," said Frank Yang, a senior analyst at research firm Analysys. "There will definitely be a need for new online, digital development."

While online working and learning are nothing new in China, wider acceptance of these tools could expedite the digitization of businesses and whole industries " a major part of Beijing's hi-tech ambition to establish a powerful digital infrastructure for the world's second largest economy.

A glimpse of that next stage in China's development emerged after the country's technology sector literally served as a lifesaver, as it rushed to the fore on many fronts: robots in hospitals, heath code apps, online education and remote working.

Some of the most popular business apps in February, for example, included Alibaba's Dingtalk, Tencent's WeChat Work and Tencent Meetings, Huawei's Welink, ByteDance's Lark and Pinduoduo's Knock. Alibaba is the SCMP's parent company.

"Protracted disruption amid the pandemic will force most firms to make up their minds and go digital," said Zhang Xinhong, a research director at government think tank the State Information Centre of China, in a recent webinar. He said remote working, e-commerce, online education and other digital services "will now become new options for more companies".

Chinese smartphone giants pause manufacturing in India

China's major Android smartphone vendors, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, have suspended manufacturing operations in India, following a 21-day nationwide lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

That directive is expected to result in a decline this year in India's smartphone market, the world's second largest after China, as manufacturers comply with the order and domestic consumption slows down during that period, according to analysts.

Apple's main iPhone assemblers, Foxconn and Wistron, as well as South Korea's Samsung and LG have also temporarily halted work at their plants in India in line with the directive.

A man uses a phone with Chinese Oppo brand at a shopping mall in Chennai, India, Oct. 8, 2019. Photo: Xinhua

"In the worst-case scenario, the Indian smartphone market could see a 4.2 per cent decline in 2020," said Nicole Peng, vice-president of mobility advisory services at Canalys. Smartphone shipments in India grew 8 per cent to 148 million units last year, Canalys data showed.

The projected slowdown may prove to be a bigger a concern for China's major Android smartphone companies, which sell the most popular models in India.

Canalys' Peng, however, indicated that the pause in manufacturing may have been expected by these companies based on their experience in China, where many factories were shut down at the height of the outbreak.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-key reveal for Huawei's P40 series with 5 rear cameras

MANILA -- Huawei on Thursday unveiled its P40 series of photography-focused premium smartphones in a global livestream, setting aside a glitzy launch as a third of humanity hunkered down in their homes to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time, Huawei is offering the P series in 3 mainstream variants: the P40 Pro+ with 5 cameras on the back, the P40 Pro with 4 rear shooters and the P40 with a triple camera setup.

It was second virtual reveal for new hardware for Shenzhen, China-based Huawei, after the Mate line of foldable phones, tablets and laptops in February.

Apple also earlier announced its upgraded iPad Pro via online videos. The iPad Pro works with a trackpad and has upgraded cameras similar to the iPhone 11.


The P40 Pro+ has a 50MP main camera, a 40MP ultra-wide camera, a 8MP periscope 10x telephoto, an 8MP 3x optical telephoto lens and a TOF sensor. It can zoom up to 100x with combined optics and AI.

"It's a camera monster," Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu said. Like past P series smartphones, Huawei tapped German lens-maker Leica to co-engineers the cameras.

The P40 Pro and P40 have 50-megapixel main cameras on the back with improved autofocus and pixel binning, promises better image quality by combining data from multiple pixels into one.

The P40 Pro adds 3 more cameras: a 40MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP periscope 5x optical telephoto lens and a 3D time of flight sensor for depth sensing. The vanilla P40 has 2 more rear lenses: a 16MP ultra-wide camera and an 8MP telephoto shooter.

The P40 Pro+ and P40 Pro both have a nearly 6.6-inch 2,640 x 1,200 curved OLED panel with a 90hz refresh rate. The P40 has a 6.1-inch flat 2,340 x 1,080 flat OLED panel.

The first of its kind "overflow" display in the P40+ and P40 Pro wraps around the top, bottom and sides of the phone. The pill-shaped cutout for the front-facing camera allows face unlock even in low light.

The P40 Pro+ and P40 Pro both have a 4,200 mAh battery with 40W wired fast charging while the P40 packs a 3,800 mAh cell with 22.5W wired charing. All 3 phones run on Huawei's own Kirin 990 chip with EMUI 10 based on Android 10.

The P40+ have ceramic backs, available in white and black. The P40 Pro and Pro have glass backs, available in Ice White, Deep Sea Blue, Black, Silver Frost and Blush Gold.

The P40 series will go head-to-head with Samsung's Galaxy S20 series and the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max from late 2019.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei launches Nova 7i with 4 cameras, focus on App Gallery

MANILA -- Huawei launched Tuesday the Nova 7i, the latest generation of its smartphone line that crams as many features at a third of the price of premium offerings.

The Nova 7i was unveiled with an emphasis on Huawei's App Gallery, its answer to Google's Play Store and Apple's iOS App Store. The device runs an open-source version of Android 10 with EMUI 10.

The camera module on the back of the Nova 7i looks like an evolution of the iPhone 11 Pro cameras, with 4 lenses instead of 3. It has a 48-megapixel wide angle lens, an 8-megapixel ultra wide angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens and a 2-megapixel bokeh lens for background blur.

The 16-megapixel selfie camera is housed in a hole-shaped cutout on the top right corner of the 6.4-inch screen. The panel has a resolution of 2310 x 1080 with 398 pixels per inch.


The Nova 7i is powered by a 4,200 mAh cell and runs on Huawei's own Kirin 810 processor. It has 8GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage.

Available in pink, black and green pre-orders for the Nova 7i will run from March 10 to 20. It will retail for P13,990.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei debuts upgraded Mate Xs 5G foldable, bets on connectivity ahead of P40 series

MANILA -- Huawei on Monday unveiled its newest foldable smartphone, tablet and laptop, betting on an interconnected ecosystem of devices and software as it reasserted itself in the face of new devices from Samsung and Apple.

The world's largest supplier of telecommunications equipment debuted the new additions to its Mate line of premium devices ahead of the P40 series, its photography-centered line of premium smartphones that is expected be unveiled in March. The P40 phones will compete directly with Samsung's Galaxy S20 series.

In a global livestream, the Shenzhen-based tech giant unveiled the Mate Xs foldable phone; the MateBook X Pro laptop with a near borderless display; and the MatePad Pro, a productivity focused tablet.

The Mate Xs is made from sturdier materials and has an improved hinge that allows the display to unfold into an 8-inch tablet. Huawei also upgraded the processor to its latest in-house Kirin 990, said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei consumer business group.

The quick charging battery charges up to 85 percent in half an hour and lasts 20 percent longer than the original Mate X. The Mate Xs has 4 Leica-engineered cameras, he said.

The Mate Xs will be available internationally in March for 2,499 euros (roughly P138,0000). There was no immediate word on availability on the Philippines.



The MatePad Pro, aimed squarely at Apple's iPad Pro has a 10.8 inch screen with a 90-percent screen-to-body ratio, compared to 84.6 percent on the Apple device. It supports up to 40-watt fast charging and runs on Kirin 990, Yu said.

Also like the iPad Pro, the MatePad pro can be used with Huawei's own M Pencil and a keyboard that doubles as a case. Prices start at 549 euros (roughly P30,000) and will be available from April.

The MateBook X Pro has 3,000 x 2,000 resolution touch screen with a 91-percent screen-to-body ratio. It runs the 10th generation of Intel's Core i7, Yu said. Prices start at 1,499 euros (roughly P82,000)

Huawei is building its own AppGallery to compete with Google's Play Store and Apple's iOS App Store, he said.

A launch event in Barcelona for the new devices was scrapped, along with the entire Mobile World Congress to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus strain.

"We want to make sure your health and safety comes first so this new and unique format is arranged for your comfort," Yu said.

Acknowledging a "tough" 2019 for Huawei in 2019, Yu said annual revenue grew 18 percent while smartphone shipments grew 16.8 percent, Yu said.

Personal computer sales grew 200 percent while wearables grew 170 percent, he said.

The current year will be a "takeoff year" for 5G, as Huawei has so far shipped 10 million devices with the new connectivity standard, he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New foldable phone coming? Huawei sets Feb. 24 virtual launch

MANILA -- Huawei will host a virtual product launch on Feb. 24, promising "seamless" artificial intelligence and teasing new devices, including the successor to its Mate X foldable smartphone.

Shenzhen-based Huawei, the world's largest dealer of telecommunications equipment, was supposed to showcase its new tech and products during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 23, but the entire fair was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.


Huawei is launching new products 2 weeks after chief rival Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S20 series with revamped cameras to challenge the Chinese giant's P series. The successors to 2019's P30 and P30 Pro, believed to be called the P40 series, are due to be announced as early as March.

On its official Twitter page, Huawei Mobile teased an outline image of a folding device, with a form factor similar to 2019's Mate X, it's first commercially released foldable phone. The device will be "unprecedented," according to the post.

Samsung recently announced its second foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip, which opens and closes like a makeup compact unlike its predecessor, the Galaxy Fold, which has a tablet form factor.

In another post, Huawei posted the outline of a laptop, promising "borderless" technology. The company recently released the Matebook D 15 laptop with slim bezels.

Huawei last year moved to tighten connectivity of its devices, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches and wireless earphones.

source: news.abs-cbn.com