Huawei launches Mate 70 smartphone as new US chip curbs loom

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) -Chinese language tech large Huawei Applied sciences unveiled its Mate 70 smartphone sequence on Tuesday, marking a big step in its premium smartphone comeback whereas showcasing its personal working system in a clear break free from U.S. know-how.

The telephone marks the “essentially the most highly effective Mate telephone ever”, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s Shopper Enterprise Group, stated at an occasion within the firm’s hometown of Shenzhen.

The Mate 70 is the primary mainstream smartphone to incorporate a satellite tv for pc paging system, has an improved processor and runs on Huawei’s personal HarmonyOS Subsequent working system, which collectively increase efficiency by 40% in comparison with earlier fashions, Yu stated.

The launch comes because the U.S. is predicted to announce new export controls that might add as much as 200 Chinese language chip corporations to a commerce blacklist as quickly as this week, proscribing their entry to U.S. suppliers, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Huawei doesn’t usually focus on its chip developments at product launch occasions, with enhancements normally found by teardown companies later.

The Mate 70 sequence is the primary main business rollout of the HarmonyOS NEXT, a big step in Huawei’s push for software program independence since U.S. curbs lower off its entry to Google providers in 2019.

Whereas Huawei’s earlier variations of Concord OS maintained Android compatibility, the HarmonyOS NEXT, which started public testing this 12 months, represents a whole break from Android.

Final week, Huawei stated it had secured greater than 15,000 purposes for its HarmonyOS ecosystem, with plans to increase to 100,000 apps within the coming months.

The patriotic sentiment surrounding Huawei’s technological breakthrough has helped gas its market restoration and intensified competitors with different gamers, together with iPhone maker Apple, in China – the world’s largest smartphone market.

Huawei was ranked as China’s No.2 smartphone vendor within the third quarter of 2024, with deliveries exceeding 10 million models for the fourth straight quarter, in line with analysis agency Canalys. It is a important rebound from the second quarter of 2022 when it shipped simply 4.1 million models.

The Mate 70 is the successor to the Mate 60 sequence launched in August final 12 months, extensively seen as marking Huawei’s comeback to high-end smartphones.

Teardown analyses revealed each the Mate 60 and the Pura 70 sequence – launched in April – function superior chips manufactured by China’s SMIC, underscoring the nation’s rising semiconductor capabilities regardless of Western export controls.

(Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen, Liam Mo in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Enhancing by Himani Sarkar)

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