Huawei launches the first smartphone to connect to rivals in China via GPS
Huawei has launched a flagship smartphone that it claims is the first device capable of connecting to China’s Beidou global navigation satellite system.
The company tries to stay relevant in the mobile market after US sanctions shut down its mobile phone business.
The Chinese tech giant on Tuesday unveiled the Mate 50 smartphone, the MatePad Pro tablet, and the Watch GT 3 Pro smartwatch.
The Huawei Mate 50 has a revised camera with 4 lenses arranged in a circle on the back. The phone also runs Harmony 3.0, the latest version of Huawei’s operating system. Which was first released in 2019 after the company was banned from using Google’s Android software due to US sanctions.
The Mate 50 also lacks connectivity to superfast 5G networks after US sanctions stripped the company of the main chip required to do so. Instead, the phone connects to the previous generation’s 4G network.
However, Huawei claims that this is the first smartphone released to the public that can connect to China’s Beidou satellite network. Completed in 2020, Beidou is a competitor to the US government’s Global Positioning System (GPS), widely used worldwide.
BeiDou connectivity means users can still send messages even if they lose their connection to the land-based cellular network, for example, if they are in a remote area.
The Mate 50 went on sale in China on Tuesday, starting at 4,999 yuan ($718). While the high-end Mate 50 Pro started at 6,799 yuan ($1,006).
Huawei is trying to maintain its lead in the smartphone market after US sanctions cut the company off key components and software and destroyed its business. Huawei was once the world’s number one smartphone player but now has a very small market share.
The company hopes other products, such as tablets, smartwatches and other accessories, can fill the gap.
Huawei EV boost
But, driven by its telecommunications equipment business. Huawei has turned to new growth areas, including software also cloud computing, over the past two years.
Recently, Huawei has built an automotive technology business focusing on electric vehicles. But the company, based in Shenzhen, southern China, doesn’t make cars. Instead, he works with automakers and deploys the technology in different parts of the vehicle.