Battling with Apple in the world's top smartphone market, Huawei cuts its prices
China is the world's largest smartphone market. That means the U.S. is number two, right? Uh, no. That honor belongs to India with the U.S. in third place. In China, the premium handset market, which includes phones costing more than $600, is led by Apple. The American firm owns a 52% share of the premium market in China followed by Huawei. The beleaguered Chinese manufacturer has 33% of the premium phone pie in China following a 34% gain in domestic premium handset sales during the third quarter.
To help it compete with Apple in this sector of the Chinese smartphone market, Huawei has been cutting prices on its phones. For example, the 1TB variant of the Pura 70 Ultra, part of the Pura 70 flagship series released in April, is the beneficiary of an 18% discount. That takes the price of the phone from 10,999 yuan ($1,494) to 8,999 yuan ($1,233). The version of the photography-focused phone with 512GB of storage is available with a larger 20% discount. The Pura 70 line, the successor to the P60 flagship series, was already reduced in price by up to 1,000 yuan ($137) last summer.
The foldable Huawei Mate X6. | Image credit-Huawei
The foldable Huawei Mate X5, which was released back in September 2023, is now being sold at a 19% discount. With that 2,500 yuan discount ($343), the price of the phone is reduced to 10,499 yuan ($1,439). According to research firm CINNO, the Mate X5 has been the most popular foldable since its launch last year. Huawei started taking a knife to its smartphone prices after releasing the new Mate 70 flagship series and the foldable Mate X6 in November.
The current Mate 70 flagship line has not been selling well. The weak sales are being blamed on the Kirin 9020 application processor (AP) powering the phones. Built by SMIC using its second-gen 7nm process node, the chipset is considered to be a weaker processor than the silicon used on competing phones such as the 3nm A18 and A18 Pro found inside the latest iPhone 16 models. Counterpoint Research says that the Mate 70 series is still expected to sell over 10 million units during the course of its life.
The tri-fold Huawei Mate XT opens up to reveal a 10-inch display. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Huawei is the most popular brand of foldable phone in China although it competes with several foldable models produced by its domestic rivals. CINNO reports that thanks in part to the Mate X5, Huawei shipped 1.12 million foldable units during the third quarter. That is a whopping 97% gain year-over-year. And speaking of foldables, Huawei shocked the industry by releasing the world's first tri-fold foldable model last September. The Huawei Mate XT features a 10-inch screen and a price tag equivalent to $3,000.
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