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Huawei Wants to Beat Apple in Smartphones in 2 Years

Huawei Wants to Beat Apple in Smartphones in 2 Years

By Reuters | Updated: 4 November 2016 20:57 IST

Highlights

Huawei is now the third-biggest smartphone maker after Apple and Samsung
Huawei on Thursday launched a new premium phone, the Mate 9
Yu expects to make a break in European markets such as Germany and France

China's Huawei Technologies wants to be the world's second-largest maker of smartphones in two years, Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group, told Reuters on Thursday.

Having made its name as a builder of telecommunications networks, Huawei has been active in the consumer devices market for only a few years and is now the third-biggest smartphone maker after Apple and the world leader in the $400 billion market, Samsung.

"When we announced four years ago that we wanted to sell phones, people told us we were crazy. When we said we wanted to sell 100 million phones, they told us we were crazy," Yu said at a launch event in Munich.

Huawei on Thursday launched a new premium phone, which will sell for EUR 699 (roughly Rs. 51,600) apiece. A version developed with Porsche Design will cost EUR 1,395 (roughly Rs. 1,03,000).

The phone has a new artificial intelligence feature: It can learn about its user's habits and automatically put the most frequently used apps in easy reach.

(Also see: Huawei Launches New Premium Phone That Can Learn)

Huawei was the world's third-largest smartphone maker in the third quarter with 33.6 million shipped devices, giving it a 9 percent market share, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple was still well ahead with 45.5 million devices, or a 12 percent market share. Samsung was the world leader with 75.3 million shipped devices and a market share of 20.1 percent.

"We are going to take them (Apple) step-by-step, innovation-by-innovation," Yu said, adding that he expected to improve Huawei's position along with technology shifts.

(Also see: Huawei Fit Activity Tracker With Heart Rate Monitor Launched)

"There will be more opportunities. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality," he said. "It is like driving a car. At every curve or turn, there is an opportunity to overtake the competition."

With the new phone, dubbed Mate 9, Yu expects to make a break in European markets such as Germany, France and Great Britain. "In Finland, we are already number one," he said.

With Apple struggling to come up with surprise designs and Samsung reeling from having to scrap its flagship phone, Yu said Huawei was at a tipping point.

"Step-by-step we are winning the trust and loyalty of the customers. It is about trust and loyalty."

© Thomson Reuters 2016

Huawei Mate 9

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 5.90-inch

Processor HiSilicon Kirin 960

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 20-megapixel

RAM 4GB

Storage 64GB

Battery Capacity 4000mAh

OS Android 7.0

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Huawei mobiles Huawei mobiles price in India

Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 5.50-inch

Processor HiSilicon Kirin 960

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 20-megapixel

RAM 6GB

Storage 256GB

Battery Capacity 4000mAh

OS Android 7.0

Resolution 1440x2560 pixels

More Porsche Design mobiles Porsche Design mobiles price in India

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