Huawei goes upscale with new smartphone and smartwatch

[cirr]

Huawei goes upscale with new smartphone and smartwatch

By Hope King

January 5, 2016: 3:25 PM ET

China's top smartphone manufacturer is ready to prove that it can compete with Apple and Samsung at the higher end of the market.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

This is an especially big moment for Huawei in the United States, where it has largely been known for building cheap phones for carriers like T-Mobile (TMUS) and AT&T (T, Tech30).

But Huawei is now moving to sell devices under its own brand. The new Mate 8 smartphone and the Elegant and Jewel smartwatches show Huawei's strategy of building eye-catching products that satisfy specific user needs -- at around the same price of its competitors.

"Huawei Mate 8"

The Huawei Mate 8 is made for people who want a powerful and sleek smartphone that lasts more than a day without charging.

Huawei claims its 6-inch phone will last a day and a half on a full charge with heavy usage (28 hours of 3G calling or 20 hours of 4G Internet browsing).

In comparison, Apple says its iPhone 6S Plus lasts up to 24 hours of 3G talk time, and 12 hours of web surfing.

Huawei also claims the Mate 8 phone's 4,000 mAh battery can charge to nearly 40% capacity in half an hour -- 105% faster than the 6S Plus.

At its core, the Mate 8 contains a super-fast computer chip composed of four 2.3 GHz ARM A72 processors and four 1.8 GHz ARM A53 processors.

Huawei seems to be targeting business professionals who may prefer Samsung devices. The Mate 8 has native features like a split-screen function and a built-in business card scanner that recognizes 17 languages.

There's also a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, password lock for microSD cards, and three microphones for audio recording and directional playback.

One of the phone's coolest features may be its ability to record a video of the screen. To do so, Huawei is introducing a new way to interact with a phone: by knocking on the screen twice with two knuckles.

One of the biggest open questions is how well Huawei's customized mobile operating system -- based on Android Marshmallow -- will perform.

The 32GB base model of the Mate 8 costs €599 (about $643).

"Huawei Watch for Lady"

Huawei is also trying to win a share of the growing smartwatch market with two new devices designed specifically for women.

The company partnered with Swarovski on the Elegant -- "a more understated" choice -- and the Jewel, which features a lot more bling around the watch face.Both watch cases are plated in rose gold, use Swarovski crystals and are compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

While Apple and Samsung have both focused on making their smartwatches companion pieces to their smartphones, Huawei is going after those who view a smartwatch like an accessory or a piece of jewelry.

Huawei's new smartwatches are in the same price range as the Apple Watch: $499 for the Elegant, and $599 for the Jewel.

Related: Huawei says its smartphone battery charges 10 times faster

Related: Apple's original iPhone designer lands at Huawei

Related: Your next smartphone could be from China

Huawei goes after Apple and Samsung with new devices at CES - Jan. 5, 2016

 

[cirr]

Huawei Ships 108 Million Smartphones in 2015, Contributing to Annual Revenue Exceeding $20 Billion USD

Huawei Experiences a Record-Breaking 2015 with 70 Percent Growth Year-over-year


(Graphic Huawei)

January 05, 2016 01:28 PM Eastern Standard Time

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at CES 2016, Huawei announced strong business results and rapid year-over-year growth for Consumer Business Group (CBG). Huawei CBG’s revenue exceeded $20 billion USD in 2015, nearly a 70 percent increase from 2014. Additionally, Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 – a 44 percent increase from the previous year – becoming the leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer to top the 108 million milestone.

Huawei experiences growth in global markets while becoming the top smartphone brand in China

With Huawei shipping 108 million smartphones in 2015, the company cemented its position among the top three in market share, while significantly reducing the competition gap. Additionally, Huawei has held the highest market share in China since March 2015, during which it launched two premium smartphones, the P8 and Mate S. Along with its breakthrough in China, Huawei experienced great success in global markets. In western Europe, Huawei’s market share in the high-end smartphone market (phones priced between 400 to 500 Euros) achieved outstanding results, and the company ranked in the top three in market share in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal and several other countries.

Huawei also continued to increase its brand awareness and had notable achievements in this area:

• Huawei was ranked 88th in Interbrand’s Top 100 Global Brands list, an increase from 94th in 2014.
• Huawei was named the 70th most valuable global brand according to the BrandZ 100 list.
• According to a report by the world-renowned research institution IPSOS, Huawei ranked first in brand awareness growth, jumping from 65 percent in 2014 to 76 percent in 2015, with more than 75 percent of consumers now aware of Huawei’s smartphones.
• Brand awareness significantly increased in European countries year-over-year: Portugal (87 percent); Italy (82 percent); Spain (79 percent); Netherlands (73 percent); Germany (68 percent).
• As Huawei’s brand awareness in key global markets increased, its Net Promoter Score (NPS) grew to 47, ranking third globally.

Huawei Focuses on Winning Collaboration and Research to Drive Future Innovation

Huawei’s outstanding business performance can be attributed to its tremendous investment in innovation and R&D. Huawei has established 16 research laboratories around the world, including locations in China, Germany, Sweden, Russia and India. In 2014, Huawei invested 14.2 percent of its annual revenue in R&D while securing 76,687 patents, 18,000 of which apply to Huawei devices.

Huawei has applied its self-developed innovation to its latest products, enabling people to have amazing experiences using the devices. For example, Huawei invested $98 million USD over three years and established a research team in France to create the first Huawei-developed ISP for the Mate 8. This enabled users to take better photos with faster focus, enhanced clarity and a more accurate color shade. Additionally, the Press Touch technology introduced in the Mate S broke the tradition of two-dimensional touch-screen control and launched a new era of interaction between humans and machines. Furthermore, Huawei’s Fingerprint 2.0 technology increased recognition speed by 100 percent, while the Knuckle operation was well-received by users.

At CES 2015 Huawei partnered with some of the world’s top brands to provide people with amazing device experiences:

• Huawei partnered with Swarovski to launch the HUAWEI WATCH Jewel, the world’s first smart watch designed for women which features 68 SWAROVSKI ZIRCONIA inlayed in the watch dial plates, while the watch strap is designed with Italian crocodile calfskin to match the device’s elegance to its functionality.
• Huawei joined forces with Harman Kardon, the world’s leading audio brand, on the M2 10.0 tablet to introduce a leading device in the video / audio market.
• The Huawei Nexus 6P, created in collaboration with Google, has propelled Huawei to become one of the world’s top brands, as the devices’ design and quality exceeded previous Nexus versions.
• In the automotive market, Huawei worked with leading manufacturers such as GM, Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroen, to integrate Huawei’s automotive 4G communication module in future vehicles.
• Huawei also entered the smart home market, releasing Huawei Lite OS, an integrated smart device standard protocol that follows Hilink, and establishing collaborative relationship with more than 60 partners including Haier and Broadlink.

In 2016, Huawei will continue its spirit of winning collaboration by partnering with the industry’s top brands in various industries, ranging from flagship products, the smart home to cloud services. Through advanced technology, innovation and collaboration, Huawei will continue to deliver leading technology products to its customers. The ongoing integration between future direction of consumer devices and partners’ advanced technology will result in new, cutting edge products and amazing user experience.

About Huawei Consumer BG

Huawei’s products and services have covered over 170 countries, and a third of the population in the world, ranking third in the world in mobile phone shipments last year (2014). Sixteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei’s three business units and covers smartphones, mobile broadband devices, home devices, and cloud services. Huawei’s global network is built on 20 years of expertise in the telecom industry and dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world.

Huawei Ships 108 Million Smartphones in 2015, Contributing to Annual Revenue Exceeding $20 Billion USD | Business Wire

 

[cirr]

Huawei: We Will Overtake Apple As World's Second Biggest Smartphone Maker Within Two Years

BY DAVID GILBERT

01/05/16 AT 5:39 PM

LAS VEGAS -- Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei says that it plans to overtake Apple as the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker within two years. That means cracking the U.S. market where it is a non-entity with a two-pronged approach of building Huawei as a premium brand and introducing "Honor" as a budget brand for lower-cost smartphones.

Huawei is the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker with a 9.7 percent market share, according to figures from market research firm GfK. In 2015 it saw a phenomenal 44 percent increase in sales, shipping over 108 million units in the last 12 months, according to the CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, Richard Yu, who was speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Tuesday. To put that growth in perspective, the entire smartphone market is predicted to have grown by just 10.4 percent during the same period, according to figures from IDC.

Visitors try out the Huawei Mate S smartphone at the Huawei stand at the 2015 IFA consumer electronics and appliances trade fair on September 4, 2015 in Berlin.PHOTO: SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES

But the company is not resting on its laurels; it has big plans. “Every month, every year we are increasing our market share,” Yu told the audience at CES. “Maybe within two years, we have a chance to be number two.”

According to figures from IDC, Apple is the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, with a 13.5 percent share of the market in the third quarter of 2015, almost double Huawei’s 7.5 percent share. Samsung is No. 1 in the market with 23.5 percent market share, IDC says.

Yu said that within two years he believes his company can reach 15 percent, a figure backed up by Jim Xu, the company’s sales and marketing president. “I am responsible for sales and I think 15 percent [market share] is reasonable,” Xu told International Business Times in an interview on Tuesday.

Building the Brand

Huawei’s success in 2015 is not just measured in bigger sales, the company has also grown its brand awareness globally from under 3 percent in 2011 to 76 percent today. Its Net Promoter Score (NPS), a measure of the loyalty of a brand’s customer relationships, has risen dramatically from –24 in 2013 to +47 today.

Apple currently has just over 450 retail stores around the world, having rapidly expanded its physical presence in recent years and yet this is nothing compared to Huawei which now claims to have 34,000 retail locations around the globe — none of which are in the U.S.

At CES on Tuesday the company launched its latest premium smartphone, the large screen Mate 8, which will go head-to-head with the iPhone 6s Plus and Samsung’s Galaxy Note when it launches in 30 countries — though not in the U.S. The phone features a 6-inch screen, premium metallic construction and design, a powerful processor built by Huawei itself and promises up to three days of battery life — though Xu said for a heavy user like himself a day-and-a-half is more realistic.

The Huawei Mate 8 is a premium, large-screen smartphone boasting three-day battery life and a class-leading camera.PHOTO: HUAWEI

Xu told IBT that he believes the Mate 8 will eventually come to the U.S. but it is indicative of the company’s inability to gain traction in a market where the lingering questions over the security of the company’s networking products has had a knock-on impact on its smartphone business.

Xu says the company is planning to continue to push the Huawei brand in the U.S. but rather than trying to gain market share at the low end of the market — which he says would be easy — the company is willing to be patient and build the brand awareness through other products including the new 10-inch MediaPad M2 tablet which will go on sale in the U.S. at launch and the female-focused versions of its smartwatch which were also launched at CES on Tuesday.

Google Gateway Drug

Where Huawei does have a presence in the U.S. is with the Nexus 6P, a premium smartphone launched last year with Google. On Tuesday it added a gold version. This, Xu says, has helped raise the awareness of Huawei as a premium brand in countries like the U.S. and Japan and also built relationships with operators, something Huawei is seriously lacking in North America. Kevin Ho, president of Huawei Consumer Business Group’s handset business said that the company “would like to enhance this partnership next year” — though when pressed on what this meant, Xu said he had nothing to share.

The Huawei Watch Jewel is a smartwatch aimed at women and the company hopes it will help raise brand awareness in the U.S.PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

The second string to the company's assault on the U.S. marketplace is deploying the company’s Honor sub-brand which is set to launch for the first time in the U.S. in 2016. An announcement is expected on Tuesday evening in Las Vegas on the company’s plans for the brand, which is already seeing significant gains in European and Asian markets.

Xu confirmed to IBT that Honor’s smartphones will be launched in the U.S. in 2016 and it is expected they will be marketed entirely separately from the Huawei brand in order to avoid any negative connotations. However the smartphone market is a highly competitive sector and it is unclear just how successful the Honor brand can be in a market where a company like ZTE has worked for years to build strong relationships with carriers and build its brand through prudent sponsorships.

Huawei: We Will Overtake Apple As World's Second Biggest Smartphone Maker Within Two Years

 

[Keel]

Huawei goes upscale with new smartphone and smartwatch

By Hope King

January 5, 2016: 3:25 PM ET

China's top smartphone manufacturer is ready to prove that it can compete with Apple and Samsung at the higher end of the market.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

This is an especially big moment for Huawei in the United States, where it has largely been known for building cheap phones for carriers like T-Mobile (TMUS) and AT&T (T, Tech30).

But Huawei is now moving to sell devices under its own brand. The new Mate 8 smartphone and the Elegant and Jewel smartwatches show Huawei's strategy of building eye-catching products that satisfy specific user needs -- at around the same price of its competitors.

"Huawei Mate 8"

The Huawei Mate 8 is made for people who want a powerful and sleek smartphone that lasts more than a day without charging.

Huawei claims its 6-inch phone will last a day and a half on a full charge with heavy usage (28 hours of 3G calling or 20 hours of 4G Internet browsing).

In comparison, Apple says its iPhone 6S Plus lasts up to 24 hours of 3G talk time, and 12 hours of web surfing.

Huawei also claims the Mate 8 phone's 4,000 mAh battery can charge to nearly 40% capacity in half an hour -- 105% faster than the 6S Plus.

At its core, the Mate 8 contains a super-fast computer chip composed of four 2.3 GHz ARM A72 processors and four 1.8 GHz ARM A53 processors.

Huawei seems to be targeting business professionals who may prefer Samsung devices. The Mate 8 has native features like a split-screen function and a built-in business card scanner that recognizes 17 languages.

There's also a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, password lock for microSD cards, and three microphones for audio recording and directional playback.

One of the phone's coolest features may be its ability to record a video of the screen. To do so, Huawei is introducing a new way to interact with a phone: by knocking on the screen twice with two knuckles.

One of the biggest open questions is how well Huawei's customized mobile operating system -- based on Android Marshmallow -- will perform.

The 32GB base model of the Mate 8 costs €599 (about $643).

"Huawei Watch for Lady"

Huawei is also trying to win a share of the growing smartwatch market with two new devices designed specifically for women.

The company partnered with Swarovski on the Elegant -- "a more understated" choice -- and the Jewel, which features a lot more bling around the watch face.Both watch cases are plated in rose gold, use Swarovski crystals and are compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

While Apple and Samsung have both focused on making their smartwatches companion pieces to their smartphones, Huawei is going after those who view a smartwatch like an accessory or a piece of jewelry.

Huawei's new smartwatches are in the same price range as the Apple Watch: $499 for the Elegant, and $599 for the Jewel.

Related: Huawei says its smartphone battery charges 10 times faster

Related: Apple's original iPhone designer lands at Huawei

Related: Your next smartphone could be from China

Huawei goes after Apple and Samsung with new devices at CES - Jan. 5, 2016

Very classy designs for the ladies

Bravo Huawei

.

 

[cirr]

New Huawei Chip Listed On GeekBench; Could Be Kirin 955

January 13, 2016 - Written By Kishalaya Kundu

Along with Samsung and Apple, Huawei is one of the very few smartphone manufacturers that makes its own chipsets for its mobile handsets and tablets. The company designs its own Kirin SoCs, which can be found in devices branded Glory or Honor, depending on the market. There’s also the Ascend Mate range, which happens to be Huawei’s flagship series, notwithstanding the Nexus 6P. The company’s current top-end SoC happens to be the Kirin 950, which was unveiled by the Chinese multinational last year. The chipset comes with support for LTE Cat.10 specification, and is a pretty decent performer, seeing as it scores over 79,000 points on AnTuTu. Now, however, there seems to be a newer version of the chipset that’s being readied by Huawei, if a new listing on the Geekbench database is anything to go by.

That’s because the aforementioned listing seems to suggest that there’s an ‘unnamed Huawei device’ in the works that is capable of scoring over 2,000 points (2,018, to be precise) in the single-core test and as much as 7,239 points in the multi-core test. Those figures will apparently put the upcoming chipset from Huawei above MediaTek’s upcoming deca-core showstopper – the Helio x20 (MT6797) SoC. While not much more is known about Huawei’s as-yet-unannounced SoC right now, the Geekbench listing does seem to reveal that the new chip comes with a 64-bit octa-core application processor. The Kirin 950, for reference, has four Cortex A72 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz (in theHuawei Mate 8) and four Cortex A53 ones clocked at 1.8 GHz. The minimum clock speed, meanwhile, seems to be 1.8 GHz in the new chipset as well, but there’s no obvious indication about how high the Cortex-A72 cores are clocked at.

While the ‘unknown Huawei’ device sporting the upcoming Kirin chip is listed to have 4 GB of RAM in it, not much else is known about it either, but hopefully we’ll have more info regarding both the device as well as the chipset over the next few weeks. It remains to be seen what comes of this listing on the well-known benchmarking index, and if indeed, the upcoming chipset turns out to be a new and improved version of the Kirin 950 that has already debuted with the Mate 8. Either way, we’ll let you know more on this as we go along.



New Huawei Chip Listed On GeekBench; Could Be Kirin 955 | Androidheadlines.com

 

[TaiShang]

Wow! That's one elegant piece of art work.

 

[cirr]

Huawei CBG sets sales target of $100b in 5 years

Updated: 2016-01-15 08:24

By Gao Yuan(China Daily)

The stand of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd at an industry expo in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY


Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's largest telecom equipment maker, is looking to grow its annual sales of consumer electronics to $100 billion within five years, according to founder Ren Zhengfei.

He revealed the target to staff on Wednesday evening, and said the firm is planning to introduce more high-end devices to lift revenue.

He said its smartphone unit is likely to dominate sales in the future, but that sales of wearables and electronic accessories would also continue to be big earners.

Huawei has already said its smartphone business generated $20 billion in revenue in 2015, a 70 percent growth from previous year, and to achieve the new target the firm will have to record at least 30 percent annually over the next five years.

Nicole Peng, a director at industry consultancy Canalys China, called Ren's projection "an ambitious target".

"But it is understandable for Huawei to announce this because it has been trying to build a profitable smartphone business on par with Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd," she said.

Apple generated $155 billion in iPhone sales globally in the fiscal year that ended in September.

Gene Cao, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc, was equally pessimistic about Ren's five-year target.

"Five years is too far to predict in the smartphone market and Huawei may face strong challenges in the long run," he said.

Beijing-based vendor Xiaomi Corp is also in a fierce tussle with Huawei for the top spot in China's smartphone market.

Both analysts suggested that to hit those numbers, Huawei will have to seriously shift its focus to overseas markets as growth in China slows.

"It still has great opportunities in the Middle East and African markets, for instance, this year and next," Cao said.

Huawei has said it ultimately plans to sell devices in more than 170 markets outside China by leveraging the company's abundant intellectual property rights.

Peng from Canalys said as the world's largest telecom equipment maker, Huawei's rich bank of intellectual property and its relationship with local carriers offer the company huge potential to reach out to more high-end markets.

More than 70 percent of Huawei handsets were sold in China during the third quarter of last year, according to Canalys, but it shipped just 2 percent of its devices to the United States, which has a far-higher proportion of high-end buyers.

"Huawei has to conquer the US if it wants to reach its goal," said Peng.

Late last year, Huawei partnered with Google Inc to introduce the premium Nexus 6P device to the US, in a signal that the Chinese giant was ready to ramp up its presence in the market.

Huawei was the world's third-largest handset vendor by the third quarter of 2015, shipping more than 26 million devices, a 60.9 percent year-on-year increase, according to data from another research firm International Data Corporation.

Huawei sets sales target of $100b in 5 years|Companies|chinadaily.com.cn

 

[AndrewJin]

Huawei goes upscale with new smartphone and smartwatch

By Hope King

January 5, 2016: 3:25 PM ET

China's top smartphone manufacturer is ready to prove that it can compete with Apple and Samsung at the higher end of the market.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

Huawei presented several new mobile deviceson Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including two smartphones, two smartwatches and a tablet -- all of which are markedly different from its past offerings.

This is an especially big moment for Huawei in the United States, where it has largely been known for building cheap phones for carriers like T-Mobile (TMUS) and AT&T (T, Tech30).

But Huawei is now moving to sell devices under its own brand. The new Mate 8 smartphone and the Elegant and Jewel smartwatches show Huawei's strategy of building eye-catching products that satisfy specific user needs -- at around the same price of its competitors.

"Huawei Mate 8"

The Huawei Mate 8 is made for people who want a powerful and sleek smartphone that lasts more than a day without charging.

Huawei claims its 6-inch phone will last a day and a half on a full charge with heavy usage (28 hours of 3G calling or 20 hours of 4G Internet browsing).

In comparison, Apple says its iPhone 6S Plus lasts up to 24 hours of 3G talk time, and 12 hours of web surfing.

Huawei also claims the Mate 8 phone's 4,000 mAh battery can charge to nearly 40% capacity in half an hour -- 105% faster than the 6S Plus.

At its core, the Mate 8 contains a super-fast computer chip composed of four 2.3 GHz ARM A72 processors and four 1.8 GHz ARM A53 processors.

Huawei seems to be targeting business professionals who may prefer Samsung devices. The Mate 8 has native features like a split-screen function and a built-in business card scanner that recognizes 17 languages.

There's also a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, password lock for microSD cards, and three microphones for audio recording and directional playback.

One of the phone's coolest features may be its ability to record a video of the screen. To do so, Huawei is introducing a new way to interact with a phone: by knocking on the screen twice with two knuckles.

One of the biggest open questions is how well Huawei's customized mobile operating system -- based on Android Marshmallow -- will perform.

The 32GB base model of the Mate 8 costs €599 (about $643).

"Huawei Watch for Lady"

Huawei is also trying to win a share of the growing smartwatch market with two new devices designed specifically for women.

The company partnered with Swarovski on the Elegant -- "a more understated" choice -- and the Jewel, which features a lot more bling around the watch face.Both watch cases are plated in rose gold, use Swarovski crystals and are compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

While Apple and Samsung have both focused on making their smartwatches companion pieces to their smartphones, Huawei is going after those who view a smartwatch like an accessory or a piece of jewelry.

Huawei's new smartwatches are in the same price range as the Apple Watch: $499 for the Elegant, and $599 for the Jewel.

Related: Huawei says its smartphone battery charges 10 times faster

Related: Apple's original iPhone designer lands at Huawei

Related: Your next smartphone could be from China

Huawei goes after Apple and Samsung with new devices at CES - Jan. 5, 2016

Classic!

 

[scherz]

Huawei build great quality phones. Back in the day they also had low price policy. Since then i had 2 phones. Huawei started to lift their prices. Luckily their daughter company Honor focusing on affordable phones. So my phone i am using right now is from Honor. Never disappointed from the build quality of them. Mine got fall to the ground so often and smashed it somewhere and bended and still working