All four models in Huawei’s Mate 70 range come with the company’s own HarmonyOS Next operating system, which is not compatible with Android apps.
Last year, tech giant Huawei catapulted itself to the top of the Chinese smartphone market when it released the Mate 60 Pro, a phone that contained a chip that was more advanced than any previously made by the Chinese company. The chips used in Huawei smartphones have become a symbol of the ongoing battle between China and the United States for control of advanced technology. Policymakers in Washington have been trying for years to block Chinese companies from making chips like the ones Huawei uses in Mate phones. However, Huawei continued to work, and the product strengthened its role as a national leader in defeating American restrictions.
Huawei has just announced its new Mate 70 series of smartphones, the first to be offered with the company’s new HarmonyOS Next operating system. None of the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro Plus, and Mate 70 RS feature US hardware. The devices do not rely on Android services and do not run Android applications. Huawei says it has “provided more than 15,000 apps to the HarmonyOS ecosystem, with plans to add 100,000 apps in the coming months.” Starting next year, all new Huawei phones and tablets will run HarmonyOS Next. HarmonyOS Next allows phones to be connected to other Huawei products: electric cars, smart speakers and watches. Huawei did not say what processors are used in the Mate 70 line, but the company has previously used chips made by China’s SMIC for the Mate 60 series and other smartphones.
The base model Huawei Mate70 has a 6.7-inch display with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, a 5300 mAh battery, 66 W fast charging and wireless charging up to 50 W. It includes a 50-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12-megapixel telephoto periscope camera with OIS, a 40-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a front-facing 13-megapixel ultra-wide selfie camera. The price of the version with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage space starts at 5,499 yuan (approx. HUF 300).
The Huawei Mate70 Pro includes upgrades such as Wi-Fi 7, support for satellite communication, faster charging, a larger screen, a 48MP telephoto camera, and AI-based photography features, and starts at 6,499 yuan (about HUF 350). The Huawei Mate70 Pro Plus adds improved sensors for some cameras and expands the basic specifications with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for 8,499 yuan (approx. HUF 460e). The Huawei Mate70 RS offers all the features of the Mate70 Pro Plus with premium materials such as titanium, which raises its starting price to 11,999 yuan (approx. HUF 650).
Huawei also announced the new Mate X6, the company’s next smartphone with a foldable screen. The device has a 7.93-inch internal display and a 6.45-inch external display, both slightly larger than what Huawei offers on the Mate X5. The cladding uses a mix of carbon fiber and aluminum for better durability, but it also helps make it a bit thinner: the X6 is 9.85mm when folded and 4.6mm when unfolded. In addition to the 8-megapixel selfie cameras located inside and outside the display, the X6 has a 50-megapixel main camera on the back, along with a 48-megapixel telephoto periscope camera and a 40-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The basic Mate X6 model with 12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage and a 5110 mAh battery starts at 12,999 yuan (approx. HUF 700). A collector’s edition model will also be available, which for 14,999 yuan (approx. HUF 815e) expands the entry-level specifications with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, a larger 5,200mAh battery, while also adding satellite communication capabilities.
The widespread commercial success of the Mate 70 may depend on Huawei being able to provide the chips for it. The company relied on the Chinese chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or SMIC, to make the chips for the Mate 60 Pro. Partly state-owned SMIC is the only advanced chip maker in China. Analysts believe that Huawei has once again turned to SMIC for the Mate 70. How advanced these chips are is a critical question because it can determine whether they can quickly perform more sophisticated tasks such as AI.
U.S. officials seeking to control Chinese chip development say the advanced technology is essential not only for consumer technologies such as chatbots but also for military superiority, so they have tried to prevent Chinese companies from buying this type of chip and related machinery, leaving SMIC dependent on from older devices. According to experts, SMIC is stretching itself to produce enough chips for Huawei. Although the production of some parts of Huawei’s latest phones began in July, the Mate 70 has not been released until now because it was a challenge for Huawei to get enough chips, said Lori Chang, senior analyst at Isaiah Research.
Over the past two years, the company has steadily gained ground in the Chinese smartphone market. In 2022, three-quarters of high-end smartphones sold in China were iPhones. This year, it was only about half as Huawei’s share more than doubled, according to market research firm Canalys. The company faces tough competition from domestic rivals such as Xiaomi and Oppo, which sell cheaper devices. To compete, Huawei will have to sell more mid-range models, said Canalys senior analyst Toby Zhu. But even these devices will require a large number of chips. And with foreign chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) not sending more chips to Chinese customers, this could become increasingly difficult as more companies will depend on SMIC for advanced chips. “Not only Huawei, but now all China-based manufacturers are facing the same problem,” said Linda Sui, senior director of market research firm TechInsights. “If everyone relies on SMIC, it will make supply constraints very serious next year.”
Source: sg.hu
