Huawei's Next Big Step

Chinese technology firm Huawei believes its latest device can set it on the path to smartphone domination.

- Robert Anderson

If you mentioned the name Huawei five or 10 years ago, few smartphone users would know what you were talking about.

The Shenzhen-based company’s rise since then has been unprecedented, doing in a relatively short amount of time what has taken other firms more than a decade to achieve.

Today the firm is jostling with Apple for second place by shipments in the global smartphone market and even over took it in June and July with around 12 per cent market share, according to Counterpoint Research.

A key orchestrator of this rise has been Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu, the man responsible for making sure the brand has become known for more than just the telecoms equipment and enterprise hardware that had previously made its name.

And Yu insists the company is only just getting started.

“[We can maintain it] for the long term for sure, because to be honest we are now a leader for growing marker share. If we want to do that we can grow much quicker,” he says.

On stage at the launch of the company’s latest device line – the Mate 10 –in Munich, Yu’s aim to get one up on his rivals was clear with comparisons of battery life, photography and other features between the device and those of Apple and Samsung.

But his main point of pride was the device’s key differentiator, a new Kirin 970 artificial intelligence chipset that is claimed to make the Mate 10 smartphones more powerful and efficient than their peers.

The use of the technology following its unveiling at the IFA conference in Berlin in September is the company’s next big step as it seeks to both grow its position among the top three manufacturers and increase its share of devices in the higher margin premium device segment.