Huawei gears up for launch of new flagship smartphone model Mate 70 next month: source

Huawei’s smartphone sales on the Chinese mainland surpassed those of Apple in August, the first time in 46 months, according to CINNO

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People walk past a Huawei Mate XT triple-folding phone displayed at a Huawei store in Beijing on September 10, 2024. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 30 Oct 2024

Huawei Technologies is expected to launch its new flagship smartphone Mate 70 next month, as a resurgence in its premium handset business intensifies its rivalry with Apple and major Chinese competitors, according to local media reports and a supply chain source familiar with the matter.

If confirmed, the launch will offer fresh evidence that the Shenzhen-based tech giant, which briefly overtook Samsung Electronics and Apple in global smartphone shipments before it was hit by US sanctions, is regaining lost ground with an impressive 5G handset comeback. Huawei’s smartphone sales on the Chinese mainland surpassed those of Apple in August, the first time in 46 months, according to a report last month by research firm CINNO.

Huawei is preparing for higher sales volumes for its new premium Mate series, with component bookings for the new smartphone up by 50 per cent compared with that of the Mate 60, the supply chain source said. The source, who declined to be named, said the final date could be subject to change, as Huawei still faces supply chain-bottlenecks due to US sanctions. Huawei has readied more than one million units of the Mate 70 for the upcoming release, the person added.

The planned launch was first reported by China Star Market, a news app backed by Shanghai United Media Group. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s executive director, speaks at the launch event of HarmonyOS NEXT in Shenzhen, Oct. 22, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

“Mate 70 will be the third Huawei 5G flagship phone using a domestically-made chip, which will help cement its advantageous position in China’s premium smartphone segment,” said Linda Sui, a senior director with TechInsights. “Huawei’s Android-free HarmonyOS will help [the company] further open up hardware and software integration, forming a competitive differentiation between itself and other domestic manufacturers.”