Huawei offers rare price cut on latest smartphones after strong showing in shopping festival
Huawei Technologies has made a rare price cut for its Pura 70 smartphones, three months after the series hit the shelves, following a strong performance by the brand during China's 618 midyear shopping festival.
All models in the Pura 70 series are on sale for a nearly 10 per cent discount, meaning the top-of-the-line Ultra model is available for 1,000 yuan (US$138) less, according to a statement from Huawei's official Weibo account on Thursday. The Pura 70 Pro and Pura 70 Pro+ have had their prices cut by 800 yuan each, while the base model Pura 70 was reduced by 500 yuan.
The discounts will last until the end of this month, according to a notice on Huawei's website.
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Unveiled in China in mid-April, the Pura 70 series represents Huawei's biggest flagship launch since the August 2023 release of the Mate 60 Pro, which gained world attention for its advanced, home-made processor.
Huawei's Pura 70 series is displayed at a store in Shanghai on April 18, 2024. Photo: AFP alt=Huawei's Pura 70 series is displayed at a store in Shanghai on April 18, 2024. Photo: AFP>
The 5G-capable Pura 70 line has been seen as another example of how US-sanctioned Huawei has solved more bottlenecks in its semiconductor supply chain.
The base model, the Pura 70, is powered by Huawei's in-house Kirin 9010 processor, according to a teardown report by research company TechInsights.
The processor, also used in the Mate 60, was made by China's top chip foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, despite US sanctions restricting Huawei and other Chinese tech firms from accessing advanced chip-making tools over national security concerns.
Analysts said Huawei's Pura 70 should exceed sales of the Mate 60. The new model is a major competitor to Apple's iPhone 15 and upcoming 16 series, and is expected to ship around 10.4 million units worldwide this year, surpassing the Mate 60's 6.2 million units last year, according to TechInsights.
The discounts come after Huawei's success during the 618 shopping festival, when the Shenzhen-based company saw a 42.4 per cent year-on-year increase in its smartphone sales, according to Counterpoint Research.
It was also the best performer among all brands in China, with a 69.7 per cent year-on-year growth in shipments in the first quarter, the latest period reported by Counterpoint.
Despite Huawei's strong showing in China, it did not secure a place in the top five global smartphone brands by sales in the second quarter. Apple and Samsung Electronics took the top two spots, followed by Chinese brands Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, according to a Counterpoint report released on Monday.
The global smartphone market saw a strong recovery in the second quarter, with 6 per cent growth compared to the same period last year, marking the best year-on-year growth in the last three years, according to Counterpoint.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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