- Pura 70 likely contains China-made chip like Mate 60
- Devices can support transmission of images via satellite and have telescopic lenses that improve video and photo quality.
- Building Harmony’s ecosystem is Huawei’s most critical mission in 2024, with the migration of some 5,000 key mobile apps from Android to Harmony a major priority, Huawei official says.
Huawei started selling its premium smartphones in China – Pura 70 series – on Thursday, instead of P series, that many analysts expect to contain an advanced China-made chip like its Mate 60 handset despite an official launch.
The lineup comprises four models -Pura 70, Pura 70 Pro, Pura 70 Pro+, and Pura 70 Ultra. The Pura series, developed by the Shenzhen-based company, has advanced cameras and is known for its sleek design, while the Mate series emphasises performance and business features.
Despite the US sanctions, Huawei’s Mate 60 series had China-made chip that is considered only a few generations behind cutting-edge chips used by Apple and Google in terms of computing power.
The company said that the Pura 70 Ultra and Pura 70 Pro are Huawei’s first smartphones incorporating a large language model, its self-developed Pangu LLM.
High-end features
The Kirin 9010 chipset, an upgraded version of the Kirin 9000s powering the Mate 60 series, powers the Pura 70 Ultra and Pura 70 Pro+. The chipset comprises two large cores working at 2.30GHz, six medium cores operating at 2.18GHz, and four small cores running at 1.55GHz. For graphics, it features the Maleoon 910 GPU, which is also available with the Kirin 9000s.
The handsets are powered by HarmonyOS, the operating system Huawei developed as a replacement for Google’s Android.
However, the company did not specify which chipset it uses for the latest device but said that it can support transmission of images via satellite and have telescopic lenses that improve video and photo quality.
Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu shared that the brand’s flagship P-series smartphone series will now be called Pura with a focus on style, high-end tech and fashion. The new naming stems from purity which will also be a key focus.
The highest-end Pura 70 Ultra starts at 9,999 yuan ($1,380) and can cost up to 10,999 yuan ($1,520) for more storage.
Huawei focuses on Harmony OS
Huawei, a major player in the smartphone space, was supposed to become the top smartphone seller in 2020, by overtaking Samsung but was hit by US trade restrictions, curbing its access to American technology, including the Android operating system and semiconductors.
Huawei’s rotating chairman Eric Xu said, at the annual Huawei Analyst Summit on Wednesday, that they will first develop the OS ecosystem in China and gradually go to overseas markets.
“We will expand it country by country. Building Harmony’s ecosystem is Huawei’s most critical mission in 2024, with the migration of some 5,000 key mobile apps from Android to Harmony a major priority,” he said.
Harmony is now the third largest OS after Android and Apple’s iOS.
The low-key launch of Huawei’s flagship smartphone comes the same day the company began selling its first AI-capable PC, the MateBook X Pro. The computer uses Intel’s most advanced chip, the Core Ultra processor, and is also Huawei’s first PC to incorporate its in-house-developed HarmonyOS and Pangu LLM.
According to Counterpoint stats, Huawei is now ranked second in China after Apple at the end of last year.
Industry experts said that Mate 60 and the Pura series are going to put more pressure on Apple in China as Huawei has limited international exposure.