On Friday, Huawei released a revised edition of its mobile OS and an advanced AI aide. At the Huawei Developer Conference 2023, a representative stated, "We are introducing colossal artificial intelligence models to expand our HarmonyOS platform." Huawei stated that the renewed version of its AI voice assistant Celia, which offers assistance services on smart gadgets, has been prepared utilizing Huawei's Pangu AI model.
On Friday, Huawei announced the arrival of their latest operating system HarmonyOS 4 as well as an upgraded A.I. assistant. As the telecoms giant has been facing restrictions from US sanctions, and is consequently cut off from 5G chips and other essential tech and software, its smartphone business has become weakened. To combat this, Huawei has been developing HarmonyOS in order to replace the Android OS and revive their weak smartphone business. During the Huawei Developer Conference on Friday, CEO of Huawei's consumer business and intelligent automotive solution business groups Yu Chengdong remarked that their flagship phones are coming back. This was evidenced by Huawei's market share, which grew to 13% in the second quarter of 2021, and 76% year-on-year growth in terms of phone shipments.
Yu, Huawei's CMO, stated that "We are making a comeback with vengeance." This sentiment is supported by statistics from IDC which show that Huawei's share in the Chinese smartphone market priced above $600 jumped significantly in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2022. Huawei's strategy now is to compete in the premium segment of the smartphone market instead of across all sectors. To strengthen its presence in the premium segment, the company has released the Mate X3 foldable device and flagship P60 this year. Despite US sanctions preventing the use of certain chips, Huawei is attempting to get back into the 5G smartphone market by the end of the year by sourcing domestically. This focus on the high-end segment reflects the preference of Chinese consumers for more expensive smartphones. IDC analyst Will Wong commented that "It totally makes sense for Huawei to focus on the premium segment. It's not only that the high-end segment was more resilient in the gloomy Chinese market, but Huawei could also leverage its premium brand name in China, which other Chinese vendors were still striving for. Furthermore, premium products could potentially generate more favorable revenue and profitability.”
Huawei has made HarmonyOS the cornerstone of its high-end strategy. Its objective is to develop a unified software across different electronic devices, similar to that of Apple. This operating system will provide an even more intelligent and personalized experience for users on more than 700 million devices, such as smartphones, wearables, and TVs. Additionally, the AI voice assistant Celia has been trained with Huawei's Pangu AI model to increase productivity in life and at work, while 200 million mobile phone users interact with it each month. Furthermore, harmoniously processing through conversation, texts, pictures, documents and more, Celia is also capable of providing summaries, translations, emails and official documents. Lastly, Huawei will incorporate a new set of features for invited users in late August.
Despite the fact that 89% of Huawei’s handset shipments in the second quarter were made in China, their phone revival isn’t poised to spread outside the country due to their deficiency of 5G and HarmonyOS not providing people with Google and other popular apps. Wong commented on this, noting the process of regaining user loyalty overseas would be difficult considering users have already opted to other brands. He suggested that even if Huawei could now address the issues its products face in the outside market, it would still take time to switch the users back.
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