All eyes on Huawei
Huawei started selling its latest high-end smartphones, the Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro, late last month, and last week began pre-selling the Mate 60 Pro Plus smartphone, as well as a new foldable phone, the Mate X5. The launch of the series was unusual in that Huawei did not do any pre-marketing or hold a flashy event. Despite this, the phones created excitement because they coincided with a trip by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China and it was determined that the Pro version used a 5G-enabled chip produced by a Chinese company. Sales exceeded all expectations.
In addition to all this, it is also a matter of curiosity how Huawei’s phones will perform against Apple at a time when US-China tensions are increasing. As you may remember, it was brought to the agenda that China had banned the use of iPhones for government employees, although not officially. The launch of Apple’s iPhone 15 series this week sparked mixed reactions in China, the company’s third-largest market; While many online users liked its faster chip and improved gaming capabilities, others preferred Huawei’s new smartphone. Increasing Chinese nationalism may have an impact on this.
Once the world’s largest smartphone maker, Huawei lost its top spot after the United States began restricting technology exports to the company in 2019. While the US and other Western governments described Huawei as a security risk, the company’s access to current technologies such as 5G was cut off.