Huawei plans to launch new flagship smartphone in the US later this year
Huawei is gearing up to announce an all new smartphone with an event scheduled for tomorrow in London. It’s there the company will more than likely be taking the wraps off their latest P series handset, the Huawei P9. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there have been enough rumors and leaks to suggest the phone will feature a dual-camera setup, not too unlike the one Apple is also rumored to feature on the iPhone 7.
Living in the US (or any other market outside of China), we typically don’t get too hyped about Huawei’s plans to launch new flagships given they never reach these shores, but it’s looking like that could soon change. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that 2016 will finally be the year Huawei finally enters the global smartphone market, with a new high-end flagship launching in the US to take on the best from Samsung and Apple.
In an interview with WSJ, Huawei CEO Richard Yu was optimistic about the company’s plans to move from the world’s 3rd biggest smartphone maker (by shipments), to the #1 position as a premium brand — not another Chinese company offering low-end junk. While the #3 spot sounds like they’re doing well enough for themselves, the company’s global market share is still a very modest 8.1%, while Apple and Samsung currently battle it out at 19% and 21%, respectively.
There was no word on whether the upcoming (and still unofficial) Huawei P9 will be that “flagship device, or if we could see something entirely new from the company. Honestly, the Huawei Mate 8 is already pretty amazing as-is and we wouldn’t mind getting a rehashed version of this with full US carrier support. We’ll keep you updated.