Wowee! Huawei launches new smartphones in Bali

Huawei started to produce smartphones seven years ago,” said Henry Hsu, COO, consumer business group, South Pacific region. “But for the first three years we were producing what we call ‘labor phones,’ meaning once we manufacture the phone we give it to the manufacturers or the network providers and then they put their logos on it. Four years ago, about 2011, we started to produce Huawei smartphones with the Huawei logo. That is how we gained the market share that we have today.”

We met up with Hsu at the launch event of Huawei’s P9, and P9 Plus at the consumer business group’s inaugural Southern Pacific Brand Conference in Bali last May 5. 

Huawei has become the new smartphone in the Southern Pacific region, which includes Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, China, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

This year is turning out to be a great one for Huawei as it got the No. 3 spot as a global smartphone player.  Now, Huawei has set its global target at 140 million smartphones, which it plans to ship out within the year. Shipments within its Southern Pacific markets jumped more than 50 percent for the first quarter of 2016.

Huawei’s partners in the region have paid heed to the shift in consumers’ choice; the brand has enjoyed improved acceptance among its partners that offer a full range of Huawei’s high-end mobile phones, tablets and wearables.

Over the last six months, all key network operators in the region have begun to offer Huawei smartphones through post-paid bundling that is easily available across all their retail outlets. Similarly, key retailers are more confident of the brand’s offerings; they now carry the full range of Huawei products with greater willingness to invest in higher priced models.  

In the Philippines, Hsu told us that they are preparing for a partnership with Globe, which will offer the Huawei P9 in one of its bundle packages.

This has resulted in Huawei’s presence in the Southern Pacific region expanding into more than 10,000 stores, an increase of 40 percent compared to 2015, and skyrocketing increase of 1,000 percent since 2014. Plans are afoot for more stores within these markets including adding to its five advanced experience stores and 87 experience stores.

According to Peter Tong — president of Huawei consumer business group Southern Pacific region who spoke at the conference — a significant highlight of Huawei’s performance in 2015 came from its consumer business division, which reported an annual worldwide revenue of $20 billion, a 73 percent year-over-year increase.

“Thanks to consumers, partners and media, Huawei has already become the new choice,” Tong said. “But we will not stop there. In the next two years, we want to become the consumers’ most-loved brand. We will expand our retail presence and offerings with world-class after-sales service to grow our market share across this region to 15 percent.”

Tong added, “We will do so by sharpening our focus, by persevering with R&D and by achieving breakthroughs to arrive at smart devices so intelligent in function and beautiful in form. We will continue to listen to consumers and deliver beyond their expectations; by identifying their needs, our devices will deliver the necessary benefits to improve their lifestyles.” 

Huawei has undergone a transformation and it is no wonder that industry and brand analysts agree that the perception about the brand has improved significantly since the launch of its smart watches, Nexus 6P, MateBook and the recently launched dual lens P9.

Partner with The Best

Huawei has partnered with different industries such as entertainment, arts and sports and has brought new perspectives to its smartphone devices to drive the new choice for consumers. Recently, Huawei announced partnerships with leading Hollywood actors Henry Cavill who features in the Huawei P9 campaign alongside Scarlett Johanssen. They are both global product ambassadors for the Huawei P9 series. The actors are joined on the Huawei P9 campaign by world-renowned photographers including iconic fashion photographer Mario Testino, Mary McCartney, and National Geographic World Press Photo award-winning photographer David Guttenfelder.

They are in addition to Argentine and FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who Huawei unveiled as a global ambassador earlier this year.

 “Huawei is seeing the rewards from the deployment of a consistent brand marketing and communications approach in recent months, including the usage of unified visuals that have been cascaded right through to the consumer,” added Hsu. “We make the time to understand the cultural background of consumers in the regions (where we are present) so we can understand their needs. This way we not only improve our products but better communicate our devices’ benefits that resonate with the desires of consumers. Going forward, the experiential encounter at retail outlets will be a key effort to enable customers to interact with our phones.”

Innovations and Innovators

Innovation is a long-term investment for Huawei and in 2015, the company invested $1.43 billion in research and development for its consumer business.

These investments have born fruit with the release of a host of high-end smartphone devices that has delighted consumers, the latest of which are the Huawei P9 range.

The Huawei P9 and P9 Plus are results of the first collaboration between Huawei and the global iconic camera brand Leica following an agreement of a long-term partnership that was announced in February.

Based on this significant technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica in the camera — including optical design, imaging quality, image data processing, optimization, and the mechanical construction of the camera module to the graphic user interface — the P9 and P9 Plus are equipped with a stunning dual-lens camera. This partnerships sets a new benchmark in smartphone camera technology: with more light and better clarity, to capture brilliant color and striking black and white images in true Leica style.

During his presentation at the conference Luke Au, Southern Pacific handset product marketing director said,  “the Huawei P9 further provides consumers with a new choice of premium devices; it will contribute towards Huawei’s growth in the medium and high-end smartphone market worldwide, and as early as the end of May within the Southern Pacific region.”

“With more than 90 percent of consumers identifying cameras as a key purchase factor, it is no longer about taking photos,” added Au.  “The P9 delivers on the sophisticated needs of consumers in capturing moments and improving the lives of their loves ones.”

Huawei mobile devices are available in more than 180 countries and 16 regions worldwide through cooperation with over 1,300 channel partners; its Southern Pacific region continues to be one of its most important markets. To that end, Huawei has built its Asia contact hub in Malaysia to provide a seamless customer engagement experience but also as a major acknowledgement of its commitment to this region.

Go Ahead, Shoot

As Huawei unveiled its P9 and P9 plus in a fashion show, I could not help but be awestruck by the photos that were shot with the P9.

I have to admit that I am not a big picture-taking enthusiast but I do know a good photo when I see one.

Huawei’s P9 and P9 Plus, which I got to play with at the display area after the conference, were just perfect for the not-so expert photographer in me. I got cool choices for how I could make a photo better. The best part? Being able to configure and improve the photos, given the many choices was easy.

Al Dimapilis, marketing head of Huawei Philippines, informed me that Huawei is about the fifth brand of choice with a 4.4 market share.

“But, it is our Leica camera that our customers will appreciate,” Hsu added. “After all, 92 percent of the customers who buy smartphones today buy them because of the camera function.  It is the single highest feature everyone looks for when they buy a phone.”

For Huawei it isn’t all about becoming the number one smartphone in a country. Huawei’s internal philosophy is to focus on its customers’ needs. Anyone who owns a smartphone  (and who doesn’t?) has become very sophisticated.  They like the camera functions, but normally photos, which are taken during happy occasions, are taken in dark light settings.

“With our camera, photos will be great, even in low light,” quipped Hsu. “This is what we think our customers will appreciate.”

Huawei also prides itself with good hardware engineering.  Hsu called it a “sexy phone with good benefits.”  Hsu believes that more customers will want to buy a Huawei P9 or P9 Plus when it becomes available  —  and that will increase Huawei’s market share in the Philippines.