"Yu Chengdong said that Mate has always been imitated but never surpassed. Only continuous innovation can lead the industry. There is no future in copying. Only Mate can surpass Mate!"

@TechNews Original

Huawei launched the Mate70 series, continuing the starting price of the previous generation without an increase, priced from 5,499 yuan!

On the afternoon of November 26, the Huawei Mate Brand Ceremony was officially held, with a speech delivered by Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, Chairman of the Terminal BG, and Chairman of the Intelligent Automobile Solution BU. During the conference, Huawei unveiled new products such as the Mate70 series and Mate X6. Yu Chengdong had previously stated that the Mate 70 series and Mate X6 form a powerful combination.

Among them, the Huawei Mate70 series was officially launched with a starting price of 5,499 yuan. Specifically, the regular version starts at 5,499 yuan, the Pro version at 6,499 yuan, and the Pro+ version at 8,499 yuan. Prior internal information revealed that the Pro version might be the hardest to secure during this launch.

The most notable feature of the Mate70 series is its integration of the HarmonyOS NEXT (native HarmonyOS) system. Although the new device does not come with this system by default, given that the native HarmonyOS ecosystem is still under steady construction, Huawei provides users with the HarmonyOS 4.3 (compatible with Android) system to allow users to choose and switch based on their individual needs.

Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei's Terminal BG, revealed that Huawei will fully equip its new smartphone and tablet products launched next year with the native HarmonyOS system.

The new device retains the symmetrical camera module design of previous Mate series generations, equipped with second-generation Kunlun glass and high-brightness titanium material body, supporting side fingerprint recognition and featuring the debut of satellite paging functionality. Pre-orders for this device officially opened on November 18 at 12:08, and currently, the number of pre-orders for this series on Huawei's official store has exceeded 3 million.

Huawei's new generation of foldable phone, the Mate X6 series, is priced from 12,999 yuan, with the Collector's Edition starting at 14,999 yuan. The Huawei Mate X6 boasts larger internal and external screen sizes, with the internal screen measuring 7.93 inches and a peak brightness of 1800 nits, and the external screen measuring 6.45 inches with a peak brightness of 2500 nits.

At the conference, Yu Chengdong stated that Mate has always been imitated but never surpassed. Mate has always led process innovation. Only continuous innovation can lead the industry. There is no future in copying. Only Mate can surpass Mate!

01

Powerful Combination

On November 25, the official account of 'Huawei Terminal' posted a video on Weibo, in which Yu Chengdong demonstrated a new skill of the Mate70 series, allowing users to transfer an image from one phone to another without directly touching the phones, simply through gestures. Subsequently, Yu Chengdong posted, 'The most powerful Mate ever has unlocked a new skill - AI Air Transfer!'

It is worth mentioning that the Huawei Mate70 series debuted nine AI functions, including AI Motion Tracking, AI Highlight Moments, AI Time Travel, AI Smart Control, AI Air Transfer, AI Call Summary, AI Message Companion, AI Noise Reduction Call, and AI Silent Call. In fact, it is not just the Huawei Mate 70 series; the wave of AI has already swept through the electronics market.

Pang Rui, a well-known branding expert and founding partner of Zhansheng Communications, told 'Economic Daily' that major manufacturers are dedicated to integrating AI technology into their products to create marketing highlights. However, the actual user experience of AI integration with mobile phones still needs improvement, and the role of brand premium is more pronounced. 'Although Huawei has integrated AI functionality into the HarmonyOS Next system, it still depends on its actual effectiveness.'

The equally heavyweight product, Huawei Mate X6, comes in five color options, adopts a distributed Xuanwu architecture for stronger signals, reliability, and heat dissipation, and features the debut of Star Flash precise shutdown location, second-generation Xuanwu tempered Kunlun glass, carbon fiber internal screen support layer, ultra-strong wing aluminum body frame, new Xuanwu water drop hinge, and ultra-high thermal conductivity graphene material.

Huawei Mate X6 also offers a Tri-Network Satellite Collector's Edition, which is the world's first mass-market smartphone supporting tri-network satellite communication, with a public beta test scheduled for the second half of 2025.

02

Selling at a Loss

Since 2019, when Huawei pioneered the foldable screen phone with the Mate X, to the highly anticipated tri-fold phone, the Mate XT Masterpiece, launched earlier this year, Huawei has maintained a leading position in the foldable screen industry.

In terms of market share, Huawei occupies half of the market due to its first-mover advantage. According to the '2024 China Foldable Phone Market Insight Report,' Huawei accounted for 50.3% of the domestic foldable phone market in 2023, maintaining more than half of the market share for four consecutive years. According to IDC data, Huawei continued to dominate the Chinese foldable phone market with a 41.0% market share in the third quarter of this year.

Today, major phone brands have also joined the foldable phone market competition. However, an Airi Data Intelligence survey shows that most consumers are still hesitant about purchasing foldable phones, with only 29% of respondents indicating a willingness to buy in the future.

It is worth mentioning that Royole, the brand that launched the world's first flexible foldable screen phone, recently declared bankruptcy.

Furthermore, according to some brand manufacturers, foldable phones are generally sold at a loss to attract customers. Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor, once admitted that the cumulative loss from Honor's foldable phones has reached 2 to 3 billion yuan. A responsible person from vivo also stated that the company has been subsidizing the production of foldable phones.

Recently, there were market rumors that a leading phone brand had suspended its large foldable phone product line, was internally re-planning the positioning of large foldable phones, and had suspended its new product launch plans for next year.

Although Huawei's tri-fold phone design is unique and highly personalized, factors such as its high price of up to 20,000 yuan and expensive repair costs may make it difficult to drive rapid market development.

A research report from China Securities Co., Ltd. states that the current global penetration rate of foldable phones is still low at only 1%. At the same time, foldable phones are generally priced on the higher side, and common issues such as durability and creases still exist. Many consumers still consider foldable phones to be more of a compromise rather than an ideal choice.