Official Release Expected in September-October This Year
Huawei Targets Annual Smartphone Shipments of 40 Million Units
China's telecommunications equipment company Huawei's flagship smartphone model, the 'Mate60' series, is reported to have entered the trial production stage. Huawei has raised its smartphone shipment target to 40 million units this year, expressing confidence in the strong sales of this model, which is set to compete against Apple's iPhone 15.
On the 25th, Chinese IT media outlet Kuaike reported, "Huawei's supply chain partners have delivered Mate60-related products to Huawei," adding, "This means the Mate60 series has been finalized and has entered the trial production and mass production stages, with a planned release in the second half of the year." Kuaike further explained, "Given the current progress, Mate60 production is on track and will directly compete with the iPhone 15 series."
The Mate60 is a new high-end series from Huawei, scheduled for release between September and October this year. The standard version was expected to be equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus chip, while the Pro version was to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. The product has attracted market attention as it is expected to support 5G communication. If 5G support is confirmed, it is likely to use a domestically developed 5G chipset in China, as Huawei is currently unable to source related chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek due to U.S. government sanctions.
Huawei anticipates strong sales for the Mate60 and has set its smartphone shipment target at 40 million units this year, a roughly 33% increase from the initial target of 30 million units announced earlier this year. Kuaike described this as "Huawei's confidence in the Mate60 series."
Huawei is also actively challenging the global foldable phone market, which is currently led by Samsung Electronics. Last year, Huawei released the MateXs2, an outfolding foldable phone that folds outward, but it did not receive much market response due to its high price. In March this year, Huawei introduced the MateX3 model, an infolding type that folds inward like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series. According to market research firm DSCC, the Chinese foldable phone market is expected to grow by 500% in shipments by 2025 compared to 2022.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, Huawei's market share in the Chinese smartphone market in the first quarter of this year was 9.2%, ranking sixth locally. Apple leads with a 19.9% share, followed by Oppo (18.3%), Vivo (17.7%), Honor (14.6%), and Xiaomi (13.6%). However, Honor, which spun off from Huawei in November 2020, combined with Huawei's share, effectively makes them the local market leader. During the same period, Samsung Electronics' market share was recorded at 1%, showing some improvement from the 0% range it had maintained for six consecutive years until last year.
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