Huawei starts sales of new Pura 70 smartphones with own OS

Chinese technology giant Huawei started selling two models of its highly anticipated, high-end Pura 70 smartphone series on Thursday that many analysts expect to contain an advanced China-made chip like its Mate 60 handset.

The Pura series developed by the Shenzhen-headquartered company has advanced cameras and is known for its sleek design, while the Mate series emphasises performance and business features.

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Chinese state media celebrated the launch of Huawei’s Mate 60 series last year as a triumph over US sanctions on the firm, as the handsets contain an advanced China-made chip whose computing power analysts consider is only a few generations behind chips used by Western tech giants Apple and Google.

Eric Xu, Huawei’s acting chairman, on Wednesday told a forum in Shenzhen that the company also plans to roll out a Mate 70 smartphone this year.

The Pro and Ultra versions of the Pura 70 were available on Thursday, while the Plus and base versions will begin sales on April 22. The phones were out of stock at Huawei’s official online store just a minute after sales started, and hundreds of the brand’s fans lined up at Huawei stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

One customer, Lucas Zhuang, tested the network speed of the Pura 70 and said it was at the level of 5G. Washington has banned the licensing of 5G chips to China but Huawei’s Mate 60 phones were already able to achieve 5G speed in many cases despite Huawei not branding it as 5G.

“We didn’t know what chip the Pura 70 has inside. We’ll only find out after buying it,” Zhuang, who already owns the Mate 60, told Reuters after waiting in line at Huawei’s flagship store in Shanghai.

“But we believe … the chip it has will certainly meet people’s needs.”

Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at research firm Counterpoint, said he expected shipments of about 60 million units from Huawei this year, with the Pura 70 series being an important catalyst. Last year, Huawei sold about 32 million smartphones.

“There may be some shortage at various channels but supply will be much better compared to when the Mate 60 was launched. We don’t expect any long-lasting shortage,” he said.

The Pura 70 series has four variants: the 70, the 70 Plus, the 70 Pro and the 70 Ultra. The starting price for the Pura 70 series is 5,499 yuan ($760.06).