The world’s third largest smartphone maker appears intent on giving the world’s first and second largest handset makers a serious run for the money.
Chinese telecoms company Huawei has launched on April 15 in London its most technically advanced smartphones, the P8 and the P8 Max, in a bold attempt to give the flagship smartphones of Apple and Samsung, a tough competition in the premium handset market.
From previously focusing on selling cheaper smartphones, the launch of the P8 and the P8 Max ushers a shift in Huawei strategy to make it at par, if not better, with the other high-end brands.
But according to Shao Yang, president of Huawei’s strategy marketing, the idea of selling affordable smartphones first was for the company to be able to build consumer trust and confidence with its devices.
Having established the first objective, Huawei is now in a good position to proceed to the next, which is to enter the premium smartphone market, which would be more profitable for the Chinese telecom company in the long run.
Features and specifications
The P8 features a 5.2-inch display screen and runs on an octa-core 64-bit processor. It is slightly larger than the 5.1-inch screen sizes of the Apple iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, notes Reuters.
It is likewise thinner than its rival smartphones because it has a width of only 6.4 millimeters, compared to the flagship smartphones of Apple and Samsung which have thickness of slightly below 7 millimeters.
The P8 Max, on the other hand, features a larger 6.8-inch screen and slightly better features and specifications than its smaller counterpart, the idea behind which is of course to enable it to compete head on with the Apple iPhone 6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
A major player
Huawei shipped 68 million units of smartphones last year, making it the fourth biggest smartphone maker in the world in terms of sales, following Apple, Samsung, and fellow Chinese company Xiaomi.
The 68 million units of smartphones shipped last year merely accounted for 5.5% market share, indicating how much more Huawei needed to do to catch up with Apple and Samsung, which have combined sales of over 500 million units.
Huawei’s position as the world’s third largest smartphone maker is based on handset production yearly. It is also third in its home market in China when it comes to premium handsets, following Apple and Samsung.
The P8 is expected to hit retail markets within a couple of weeks’ time including China, the UK, France and Germany with a retail price of about $533. Huawei did not disclose the release details for the P8 Max or its price but it seems likely that it will also come out in the markets on the same date as the P8.