Models show off premium Huawei smartphones at a press conference held in Dongdaemun, near central Seoul on Wednesday. [Photo by Park Sae-jin]
China's Huawei launched a set of premium smartphones in South Korea Wednesday in a bold challenge to Samsung Electronics on its own turf as the world's largest smartphone maker reels from suspended sales and production of its combustible flagship phone.
Huawei's P9 and P9 Plus were the first flagships released by the Chinese company after it changed an old strategy of targeting the market with low-priced and cost effective phones.
Huawei's premium smartphones P9 and P9 Plus are displayed at a press conference held in Dongdaemun, near central Seoul on Wednesday. [Photo by Park Sae-jin ]
P9 was released globally in April but not in South Korea. Many experts believe P9's release in South Korea was timely as the smartphone market is sluggish with no hard-punching brands.
The smartphone market has lost its steam due to Samsung's debacle and low sales of LG's flagship V20. Apple's new iPhone 7 series have failed to bring the hype with users unwilling to change their phones often.
Johnny Lau, head of Huawei Consumer Business Group's Korea office, demonstrates P9 and P9 Plus' features during a press conference held in Dongdaemun, near central Seoul on Wednesday. [Photo by Park Sae-jin]
For Huawei, it is probably a good chance to boost their market share with an aggressive strategy to attract South Korean consumers with premium quality of its P9 series and its superb camera co-engineered with German professional camera maker Leica.
"About one trillion photographs were taken last year with 80 percent of them taken with smartphones," said Johnny Lau, who heads Huawei Consumer Business Group's Korea office. "We think the performance of cameras works as a vital factor when consumers choose a smartphone."
Huawei installed a dual-lens camera into the P9 series. "With the P9 series, anybody can be an artist and a photographer," Lau said.
"Now, smartphone cameras have become part of our lives. Huawei's P9 smartphones put emphasis on three aspects," he said, referring to the clarity of images, regeneration of artistic moments into digital images through a complex and optimized algorithm, and emotional catch with "Leica's unique characteristics and feeling".
Huawei describes the large battery capacity of P9 and P9 Plus as another important element. P9 has a battery capacity of 3,000 mAh, capable of using the phone for almost two days in a row without charging while P9 Plus has a larger battery with 3,400 mAh.
Good cameras and powerful batteries are not attractive enough to capture the hearts of South Korean consumers. They care greatly about after services to compete with Samsung and LG which have set up a network of service centers everywhere at home.
Huawei has set up 65 service centers in South Korea, along with visiting and postal services. "Users will experience no fuss when using Huawei's after-service," Lau said, adding the Chinese company offers its postal pickup service free of charge.
"We offer differentiated service from other foreign companies. We aim to have our consumers feel convenient with new and innovated service methods."
Huawei will open an experience zone in Seoul next month, aiming to have more consumers actually play with its smartphones, notifying them of the phones' quality and performance.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
