BEIJING, September 14 (TiPost)— Huawei seems have more confidence in sales of its new flagship smartphone as Chinese tech behemoth is well on the track to fully return to the global market.

Credit：TiPost

Huawei was said to officially launch a comprehensive program to return to the smartphone market, buoyed by the best-selling Mate 60 series. In response to the recent news, Huawei told the state-backed newspaper Securities Daily that the new mobile will initially focus on domestic market. The paper also learned that Huawei has raised shipment target in the second half of the year for Mate 60 by 20% as sales of the flagship were stronger than the company’s expectation. Huawei was reported to deliver at least 40 million units of new smartphone this year.

Mate 60 series mark an important step toward Huawei’s return, and the following series such as P series are expected to accelerate overseas expansion of Huawei-branded mobile, the Securities Daily cited a third party analyst Li Huaibin. Huawei has maintained it reputation and image in the premium smartphone market and is stepping up comeback, given the popularity of Mate 60 series, Li commented.

Huawei surprisingly launched a presale for Mate 60 Pro priced at RMB6,999 (US$960) on August 29 even though it has not officially released the model. The low-profile presale turned out such a success that the first batch of the phone sold out within hours, igniting fervor for Huawei’s 5G comeback in China.

While Huawei didn’t provide details about technical specifications or whether the phone supports the 5G network, Chinese media outlets said online tests proved Mate 60 Pro can deliver the internet speed of 5G. Multiple reports attributed Mate 60’s 5G connectivity to Kirin 9000s chipset, which was deemed as evidence that Huawei managed to defy years of U.S. sanctions. Although the network speed test tool displays 4G LTE network, actual test results surpass the theoretical limit of 150Mbps, reaching over 800Mbps, fully meeting 5G network speed standards.

A teardown video of Mate 60 Pro showed that the Kirin 9000s is labeled as 2035-CN, where "CN" represents production in Chinese mainland, indicating that the chip is manufactured by domestic contract factories. A report from China Central Television hailed Mate 60 Pro as a mobiled backed a "Made-in-China chip", confirming the key part is made by Huawei's domestic supplier.

A week after Mate 60 Pro debut, Huawei initiated pre-orders for new models including the Mate X5 and the Mate 60 Pro Plus. Both of the models were sold out within minutes of their launch on the official online store and other online marketplaces. Huawei didn’t give the specific prices for models. Online shoppers can place their orders with a deposit of RMB1,000 for each mobile, and the device is expected to be delivered by October 9. Without any prior advertising, sales of new models highlighted strong demand.

The Wall Street predicted upbeat sales of Mate. Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan expected Mate 60 could pose an opportunity for Huawei to regain market share if it's able to supply and scale the homegrown Kirin 9000S chip. The shipment plan of Mate 60 Pro has increased by about 20% to 5.5 million to 6 million units as the demand for the device has been strong since inception, said Ming Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who was well known as the most accurate Apple analyst in the world.

The shipment showed demand for the new Mate 60 is significant stronger compared with legacy models, Kuo said. The cumulative shipments of Mate 40 Pro reached approximately 6 million units 12 months after release in October 2020, while Mate 60 Pro shipments reached 5.5–6 million units in just 4 months after launch, according to Kuo. Based on this market trend, Kuo forecasted at least a total of 12 million Mate 60 Pro mobiles would be shipped 12 months after launch.