STAFF REPORT KHI: Pakistan has witnessed Chinas number one smartphone manufacturer, Huawei, entering the local market with a big bang when the company launched a series of five new handsets carrying a package of most attractive features and services.
“Business and trade links between Pakistan and China have been growing enormously in the past few decades. With rock-solid friendship between the two countries, Huawei is extremely proud to be working in Pakistan, a market which is booming with smartphone growth. With the much-awaited 3G spectrum, Huawei has great potential to cash in and create a mark for itself as a reliable brand in Pakistan,” remarked Geng Simeng, CEO Huawei Pakistan.
According to market experts, Huawei with the introduction of low-cost handsets can create a niche in the market where smartphones are beginning to pick up with the growing popularity of Android based phones.
The event titled as Beauty meets Brains, had the Chinese manufacturer unveil five smartphones which included the Ascend Y200, Honor U8860, Ascend G 300, Vision and Ascend P1. With its closest rivals in Pakistan, Samsung and HTC already doing good in the market, Huaweis Ascend Y200 priced at R. 12,000 has an enormous potential to lure the first-time smartphone user who can experience Android along with some cool entertainment, gaming and music options with a solid device.
Powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 3.5 inch (480X320) TFT Touch-Sensitive screen, 3.2 MP camera, Qualcomm 800 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Ascend Y200 is the cheapest handset.
Geng Simeng said that aesthetically designed and measuring just 0.99 mm at its thickest point, the Vision offers immersive 3D gaming experience and is targeted towards the hardcore gamer who needs a break from the PC or gaming console. Running on Android Gingerbread 2.3, the Vision is powered by a 1 GHz processor, 512M RAM + 2G ROM, snaps pictures from a 5MP auto-focus camera (0.3 MP secondary camera), and offers 720p HD video playback options.
The Ascend G300 is the third device from Huawei. Running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Geng Simeng claimed that the handset can be easily upgraded to version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as and when required. Laced with a 4.0 inch (800×480) 16M colors/auto rotate G-Sensor WVGA LCD, the G300 carries a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM.
He said that next in line is the Huawei Honor U8860 priced at Rs 27,000. Considered as mid to high range product, the Honor runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, supports a 4.0 (854X480) TFT-LCD capacitive screen with 16M colors. More on the Huawei Honor includes an 8.0 MP camera (0.3 secondary camera), Qualcomm 1.4 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. With good looks and a solid grip, the Honor can be a force to reckon with. As with previous models, the Honor boots in 5 seconds with a 120 minute complete charge up time.
Last and the most expensive device launched by Huawei in Pakistan is the Ascend P1. The P1 is also Huaweis fastest smartphone powered by dual-core 1.5 GHz CPU which the company claims can handle 3D with amazing ease. The Ascend P1 can click pictures with an 8 MP auto-focus camera (1.3MP secondary camera) with LED flash.
Experts say that with these phones launching, , the smartphone shopper now has more choices in a market dominated by names like Samsung, HTC and Apple.