Huawei Technologies, which was the leading Chinese smartphone brand in the first quarter, debuted its latest flagship model yesterday in Shanghai to directly compete with Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics to create a global brand.
"The new P8 model along with previous popular models represent Huawei's efforts in making world-class products and establishing a global brand," said Yu Chengdong, Huawei's head of consumer business group.
Huawei P8, featuring a super thin design, 5.2-inch display and 13-megalpixel camera, will be available today in online stores of Huawei and JD.com as well as 2,000 offline outlets nationwide. The smartphone costs from 2,888 yuan (U.S.$466), with a high-end model priced at 3,588 yuan.
In 2014, Huawei sold 75 million smartphones, a 45 percent growth in the global market. The sales made consumer business one of the fastest growing segments for Huawei, which is also China's biggest telecommunications equipment manufacturer.
In the first quarter, Huawei surpassed Lenovo Group Ltd and Xiaomi Corp to become the No. 1 China brand phone vendor with a sales of 20 million units, according to Taiwan-based researcher Trendforce.
