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Huawei Technologies unveiled on July 29 its first premium smartphones equipped with the Chinese group’s alternative to Android software but without 5G connectivity, in a setback forced by restrictions on its access to American technology.
Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker as recently as last year, said its latest P50 and P50 Pro phones run on HarmonyOS.
Consumer electronics group chief executive Richard Yu unveiled the phones at a low-key online event, only in Chinese, in stark contrast to previous launches aimed at a global audience. Yu did not say whether the new models would be available outside the Chinese market.
“Due to US sanctions, our new smartphones cannot work with 5G wireless connections, although we are surely the world leader in 5G technology,” Yu said. “But with 4G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6 and our AI computation algorithms, we can still deliver performance as powerful as any 5G phone. “
This article is from Nikkei Asia, a global publication with a unique Asian perspective on politics, economics, business and international affairs. Our own correspondents and external commentators from around the world share their perspectives on Asia, while our Asia300 section provides in-depth coverage of 300 of the largest and fastest growing listed companies from 11 economies outside of Japan. .
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Most of the new high-end smartphones from Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, and other Huawei competitors are 5G models. Apple switched to faster 5G technology last year for its premium iPhone 12 series, and plans to add 5G to its cheaper iPhone SE next year, Nikkei Asia reported.
Huawei was one of the first to adopt 5G technology. The company’s Mate 30 series in 2019 was the first in the industry to offer an integrated 5G chipset with an integrated 5G modem, all designed by its semiconductor arm HiSilicon Technologies.
The new P50 smartphones will run on the Kirin 9000 processor developed by HiSilicon, as well as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 4G processor, according to Huawei.
This marks the first confirmation that the Chinese company could secure the chipsets of the US chipmaker while being on Washington’s commercial blacklist, despite not having access to the 5G version. Chinese competitor Xiaomi uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 5G mobile processors in its latest Mi 11 flagship phone.
Huawei’s smartphone business has collapsed since Washington blacklisted the company over national security concerns © AFP via Getty Images
The Kirin 9000-powered P50 Pro goes on sale on August 12, with a retail price of up to Rmb7,488 ($ 1,152), while the Qualcomm version will be available from the end of this year, according to Yu. The P50 model will run only on Qualcomm’s chipset and go on sale in September.
Washington blacklisted Huawei for national security concerns in 2019 and then changed its export control rules to block all unlicensed shipments of chips and components to the company, even from non-US suppliers, if they are. include American technology.
The tougher rules have cut Huawei’s engagement with most of the major chip vendors, including TSMC, MediaTek, and Qualcomm, and restrict its access to the world’s most advanced chips. The Chinese company has had to rely on stored chip stocks for recent versions of smartphones, as well as less advanced chipsets.
Huawei typically rolled out its P-series handsets in February or March at high-profile tech events in Barcelona or other major European cities. The launch of its P50, however, was delayed as the company struggled to secure vital supplies of chips and electronic components.
Still, Yu remained optimistic about the features of the new phones, touting the P50 series as being better able to take photos at long distances and in low light conditions than the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
“Every time we introduce the P series, we are leading a new trend in the smartphone industry,” Yu said.
Yu said 40 million users have updated their Huawei phones to HarmonyOS – a key step for the Chinese company to build a new ecosystem free from American technology. Huawei last month announced its goal of updating 200 million existing handsets to HarmonyOS by the end of this year.
The US government has banned Huawei from accessing Google’s mobile services, which include popular mobile apps like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Play. This has weighed heavily on the performance of the Chinese company’s overseas smartphones since May 2019.
Senior Huawei executives have acknowledged that the Washington crackdown has seriously affected the company’s smartphone business. The group has allocated resources to the development of HarmonyOS – its own version of the Android mobile operating system that is widely used in Samsung, Oppo, and Xiaomi handsets – in hopes of rebuilding a smartphone and an internet-connected ecosystem without American technologies.
The Chinese tech giant has also aggressively invested in domestic chip companies and is increasing hiring overseas, primarily in Europe, in a bid to maintain its technological prowess, Nikkei Asia reported earlier.
Huawei’s market share for smartphones plunged 20% during the April-June 2020 period to seventh in the first quarter of this year, when it held just 4%, according to Counterpoint Research.
In its home market, Huawei fell to 6th place with a market share of 8.3%. Honor – Huawei’s budget smartphone line that was sold to a consortium in November last year – ranked number 5 in China, according to preliminary data from IDC.
“Cargo [of components] at Huawei has been very limited this year. We are shipping tens of thousands per month rather than millions like in the past, ”a longtime Huawei supplier told Nikkei. “We now hope that Honor can consolidate its presence and its rise in the smartphone market. “
According to Isaiah Research, Huawei’s smartphone shipments this year could drop to around 40 million units in 2021. Last year, it still shipped 189 million units and ranked number 3 in the world, while in 2019, it shipped a record 240.6 million units, placing it just behind Samsung. , IDC data showed.
“We think the outlook for Huawei’s smartphone business is not that bright,” said Eddie Han, analyst at Isaiah Research. “Instead, Huawei is likely to devote more resources to building software and applications, especially on its HarmonyOS and ecosystem partners.”
“We believe Huawei will look to other non-5G products like laptops, TVs, portable devices, Internet of Things and automotive electronics,” Han said.
A version of this article was first published by Nikkei Asia on July 29, 2021. © 2021 Nikkei Inc. All rights reserved
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