WSJ – Would you buy a premium-priced smartphone that doesn’t have 5G? Huawei Technologies Co. thinks its customers will, at least in China and will bet on another premium 4G phone.

More than two years after U.S. sanctions wrecked the Chinese tech giant’s once-dominant global smartphone business, Huawei has stuck with a regular schedule of new flagship phone launches and is gearing up to debut its latest on Thursday.

Reflecting its reduced ambitions, Huawei will unveil the device in a Chinese-language event in Shanghai rather than with a splashy launch overseas. It will likely feature a top-end camera—a Huawei trademark—but won’t have access to 5G networks, Google’s Android operating system, or a host of Western apps.

That means the new phone, the P60, which Huawei will launch alongside a new foldable phone and other gadgets, isn’t likely to find many users outside of Huawei’s home market. In China, where a separate ecosystem of apps and other software has made the absence of Western apps on Huawei devices less of a liability, the company continues to attract sales from longtime fans.

Huawei was for a few months the world’s largest seller of smartphones globally, surpassing rivals Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Its global market share peaked at 18% in 2019, according to market tracker Canalys.

Then, the Trump administration imposed a series of export controls that choked the company’s access to foreign technologies. Sales crashed as the company carved off part of the business and its devices’ appeal withered in markets around the world.

Huawei’s market share stood at 2% last year, according to Canalys. Most remaining sales are in China, where the company clung to 8% of the market last year and was the country’s sixth-largest smartphone seller, behind the likes of Vivo Mobile Communication Co., the formerly Huawei-owned brand Honor Device Co., and Apple.

Executives have said the company has since replaced thousands of foreign parts. In pitching its smartphones, they have said the 4G connectivity is still powerful.

In China’s high-end phone sector, where Huawei’s rivals have struggled to gain traction, the company is the only serious rival to Apple. Huawei still held 10% of that market last year, according to Canalys.

The company has touted high-end photography and easy connectivity to other internet-connected Huawei gadgets.

Earlier this month, Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer business, posted on Chinese social media a zoomed-in photo taken at night of the top of a lit-up building which he said was taken on the “P60 Pro.” It showcased the device’s telephoto lens and nighttime photography capabilities. In a speech launching a predecessor to the P60, Mr. Yu said Huawei’s 4G connectivity was still powerful when coupled with artificial intelligence and other technology.

One 38-year-old finance worker in Beijing said he has been using Huawei phones for several years since switching from an iPhone. The user said he transitioned to Huawei because he said the devices are more compatible with external devices like game emulators and run better apps, adding that his current device’s 4G speeds are fast enough.

Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder, said last month that the company has substituted more than 13,000 components with domestic replacements in the last three years.

Still, the new smartphone underlines Huawei’s continued reliance on American technology for key parts.

Suppliers selling less than cutting-edge technology, like 4G, can apply for a license to transact with Huawei from the Commerce Department under rules issued by the agency overseeing export controls. The agency has cleared billions of dollars in such sales from U.S. suppliers including Intel Corp., which sells chips used in Huawei laptops, and Qualcomm Inc., which supplies 4G smartphone chips.

The Biden administration is considering tightening export rules to cut Huawei off from U.S.-sourced technology altogether.

Nicole Peng, a Canalys analyst, said one reason for Huawei’s enduring popularity in China is that for many, 5G simply hasn’t lived up to its billing as being a revolutionary improvement over 4G. Many smartphone users don’t really notice a difference, she said.

Huawei Spring Flagship Launch event will happen on March 23, 2023, and Huawei is ready to deliver various devices and products for consumers with the P60 series in the spotlight.

Ahead of the conference, we are here to give you an insight into what will unveil at Huawei Spring Flagship Launch Event 2023.

Huawei P60 series:

Huawei P60 series will headline the event with its brand-new camera technologies. On the other hand, Huawei confirmed this first for the launch occasion. You can read all of this lineup here.

Huawei Mate X3:

Huawei Mate X3 is the next generation of foldable smartphones. It will pack with a new foldable hinge, satellite connectivity 2.0, lightweight design, strong durability, and new smart features. Check our complete coverage on this device here.

Huawei FreeBuds 5:

After two years of Huawei FreeBuds 4, the company will unveil FreeBuds 5. This a completely new design with a flagship sound listening experience. Other than Hi-Res audio, the FreeBuds 5 will also bring LDAC codec.

Huawei Watch Ultimate:

This watch will equip the world’s first satellite network capability. Huawei Watch Ultimate has a sturdy design, which is confirmed to make a rampage this Spring.

Huawei Enjoy 60:

Aside from the flagship, Huawei will also fetch a new budget segment phone – Huawei Enjoy 60. It is popular ahead and getting praise among Chinese consumers. Despite being a very simplistic design, Huawei Enjoy 60 has all of the odds on its side.

Huawei MatePad 11 2023:

First launched in 2021, Huawei MatePad 11 made its first appearance with HarmonyOS. And a 2023 model is ready to make the grandest intro with an exquisite specialty.

Looking at the teaser, we found that Huawei MatePad 11 2023 will offer a special version with a soft screen. Talking about the specialty, this soft screen will reduce the screen glare to the lowest and provide you anti-reflection view all around the display.

Commercial Brand:

Moving on, Huawei also has announced a new commercial product brand. Also, the first products under this lineup will come as notebooks, designed especially for commercial customers.

Others:

We’re also expecting a new 2-in-1 TalkBand B7. However, Huawei has not confirmed this device for the launch roadmap.

So, the upcoming Huawei Spring New Flagship Launch 2023 conference is packed with a lot of action and there is more that we could witness.

Xu Zhijun, the rotating chairman of Huawei recently spoke at a Chinese award ceremony to deliver a speech on how Huawei reclaiming self-reliance in the field of product development tools.

Xu said that Huawei builds leading development tools from sand and ore and brings them to life as a final product. The company is continuously breaking away from its reliance on western product development tools and making its own way in the industry.

Under the new direction, Huawei is marching forward with a vision for a strategic win over the circumstance and difficulties.

According to the information, Huawei launched a new program to break free from the U.S. restrictions on production software. Huawei started this mission three years ago and it continues to increase investment in the development of all of the required software technologies.

On the other hand, Huawei is finding new ways to match the global benchmark on software development and achieve better performance.

By the end of last year, Huawei rolled out 11 software and hardware development tools. It also sent them to customers in the cloud business. This is quite a big move shared by the rotating chairman.

Huawei established the ability to replace production tools and software. In the future, the tech maker will gain steady growth in exporting these software solutions to partners and industries.

Founder:

Huawei Founder, Ren Zhengfei also attended the event along with her daughter, CFO, and new rotating chairwoman, Meng Wanzhou. The event is aimed at awarding the software IDE and construction tool teams, software pipeline tool teams, code inspection and testing tools, software warehouse tools, board-level EDA, PDA, and other product development tool teams.

(via – ithome)