Huawei Technologies, who yesterday announced a 50% increase in revenues in Australia but refused to say what those revenues were, has told ChannelNews that the Company is looking to “significantly” expand their smartphone operations in Australia in 2013.At the recent CES, Australian journalists were refused entry to the Huawei press conference where several new smartphones were revealed.
Among the new Huawei models introduced at CES 2013 was the W1, it’s first-ever Windows phone device that has a 4-inch screen with 800 x 480 pixels. The W1 uses coloured plastics similar to Nokia’s Lumia line and the HTC Windows phone 8X and 8S. It includes a 5-megapixel camera, a dual-core 1.2-GHz camera and Windows Phone 8. Huawei is not saying when the device will be launched in Australia.
Also announced were two new Android based smartphones with enormous displays, they included the Ascend Mate which has a 6.1-inch display and the Ascend D2 which has a slightly smaller 5-inch display.
The Huawei Ascend Mate comes much closer to 7-inch tablets with its 6.1-inch IPS display which has a 720p resolution. This device is powered by a quad-core Hi-Silicon processor, which is clocked at 1.5GHz and it also sports Magic Touch technology which enables users to use the touchscreen while wearing gloves, similar to the Nokia Lumia 920.
 Click to enlarge |
The Ascend Mate is powered by a massive 4,050 mAh battery which has a fast charge mode, it has a 8 megapixel camera, it runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and like Samsung’s multi-view it features a floating Windows mode which makes multi-tasking much easier.
According to Andrew Vollard, Telstra’s director of mobile, his Company met with Huawei executives at CES and that “they are one of several brands” that Telstra is currently talking to.
Luke Coleman Public Affairs and Communications Manager, at Huawei Technologies in Australia told ChannelNews that Huawei was currently expanding their mobile operations in Australia and that the Company is “serious” about growing market share here.
In the past, the Chinese Company who was banned from pitching for supply contracts to the National Broadband Network, has been forced to compete in the bottom end prepaid market. Now carriers including Optus, Telstra and Vodafone are considering giving the Company a seat at the smartphone table with one carrier admitting that the “margins in Huawei products are a lot healthier than those from Samsung and Apple”.
Globally, the Company is looking for new markets and segments in an effort to grow revenues between 15% and 20% for the year. Revenue for Huawei’s enterprise segment, which sells network solutions and computer equipment to large companies and governments, grew 25% in 2012 – well short of a target of more than 57% growth laid out by an executive with the company’s enterprise group at last year’s analyst meeting.
