The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 was held on February 26 in Barcelona, Spain. At the event, Huawei showcased a lineup of high-end, fashion-forward, and technology-driven flagship products that attracted the attention of guests, notably the Huawei Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design, Huawei FreeClip, and Huawei Watch GT 4. Huawei’s booth was divided into Ultimate Design, Fashion Forward, XMAGE, Creation of Beauty, and Fitness & Health scenario-based experience zones, which demonstrated how Huawei’s solutions have infused daily life with new technologies and enriching scenario-based experiences. While continuing to invest in technology innovation, Huawei is committed to making further breakthroughs and building rich and personalized lifestyles for global consumers.
“Huawei will continue to cement its position as a global high-end, fashion-forward, and technology-driven brand”, said Kevin Ho, COO of the Huawei Consumer Business Group, “In 2024, we will continue to increase R&D investments in smart devices, fitness & health, and digital creation. These efforts will make innovative products and services more accessible to users worldwide, and create cutting-edge, pioneering, and personalized lifestyles for consumers.”
Steady Huawei CBG business growth cements its position in the high-end market
Over the past year, Huawei CBG had made strides. It managed to make breakthroughs in the global high-end wearable, audio, tablet, PC, and phone markets, by releasing an intriguing lineup of high-end, fashion-forward, and technology-driven products. Huawei has held flagship product launch events in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, demonstrating the company’s commitment to growing its global presence as a high-end brand.
Flagship smartphones released in 2023 included the Huawei Mate 60 Series and Huawei Mate X5, both of which helped make Huawei a major player in the high-end market and proved Huawei’s industry-leading technical strength to the whole world. Huawei also unveiled Ultimate Design, a new ultra-high-end brand that offers distinctive aesthetics, craftsmanship, and technological innovations, to make Huawei stand out from the crowd. According to Counterpoint Research’s latest report, Huawei gained 5% of market share in the global high-end smartphone market in 2023, ranking third among all brands. In the first two weeks of 2024, Huawei ranked first in the Chinese market with the largest smartphone sales volume. By the end of 2023, global shipments of Huawei smart wearables exceeded 150 million, and Huawei has ranked first in China’s smartwatch market for five consecutive years. The Huawei Health App has a user base of over 450 million. By 2023, a decade after the launch of its first tablet, Huawei had shipped over 100 million tablets.
Creating a new aesthetic paradigm with high-end designs
Huawei’s “Fashion Forward” scenario-based exhibition zone at MWC drew acclaim, and showcased Huawei’s emphasis on building a high-end fashion-forward brand. In 2023, Huawei unveiled its “Fashion Forward” campaign, with the goal of creating trendy and healthy lifestyles for consumers. While investing heavily in R&D, Huawei is committed to developing new design paradigms for each new product and leading the industry fashion trend.
Huawei is dedicated to providing high-end, fashion-forward, and technology-driven products and experiences to consumers through the use of premium materials, unique design language, and advanced manufacturing techniques. While developing Huawei Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design, R&D personnel added rare earth elements to the red ceramics sintering process for the first time. Each phone undergoes 1400°C calcining and is subject to more than 50 processes during the 60-day manufacturing period, all of which are crucial to creating the vibrant red body. Huawei Watch Ultimate Design is Huawei’s first-ever gold smartwatch. It features 18K gold and Zirconium-based Liquid metal. Huawei FreeClip is Huawei’s first earbuds that come with the C-bridge Design. This design is durable and stable, bringing a breathable wearing experience and giving the earbuds a refreshingly original look and feel as well. Huawei Watch GT 4 comes in an octagonal form, showcasing every intricate detail on the surface.
Up to now, Huawei has set up Aesthetics Research Centers in Paris, Milan, and London, to gain insight into the design and aesthetic trends of different cultures, draw from a diverse range of traditions, and incorporate design elements from both East and West. The Aesthetics Research Centers serve as the global platforms that fuel the continuous advancement of technologies and design, providing unique and unprecedented aesthetic experience to consumers.
Cutting-edge smart wearables provide comprehensive and precise health management
Huawei’s Fitness & Health scenario-based exhibition zone also attracted the gaze of the attending guests. Smart wearables is one of the most crucial sectors in Huawei CBG global business. In 2023, Huawei launched a lineup of flagship smart wearables, including Huawei Watch Ultimate, the first daily smartwatch to support two-way BeiDou satellite messaging, Huawei Watch 4, which unveiled the all-new Health Glance feature, Huawei Watch GT 4 which came with brand-new Activity Rings and the Stay Fit App, and Huawei Watch Ultimate Design, the first gold-plated smartwatch ever made. Huawei has made continuous breakthroughs and innovations in cutting-edge technologies, ultimate aesthetics, health management, and science-based workouts, which have been fully recognized by global consumers. Three months after its launch, global shipments of Huawei Watch GT 4 totaled over 2.5 million units, making Huawei Watch GT 4 Huawei’s best-selling smart watch.
Having delved deep into the smart wearable industry for over a decade, Huawei has developed its own TruSeen vital sign monitoring technology, which has been upgraded five generations within eight years. This technology positions Huawei as a major player in the smart wearable industry. Huawei has filed over 800 smart wearable patent applications, ranking high in terms of R&D investment and number of patents in the fitness & health field. In October 2023, Huawei unveiled its third Health Lab — Huawei Finland Health Lab. The company has also built over 10 global R&D centers, accelerating the global layout of professional research in the wearable field. Huawei will continue to lead the way in introducing groundbreaking fitness & health services, and making scientific smart solutions accessible to all.
Huawei smart wearables will further gain insight into consumers’ core health pain points, increase R&D investment, and continuously make breakthroughs to benefit global consumers. In 2024, Huawei will prioritize three industry challenges: sleep, blood pressure, and mental health management. Through these efforts, Huawei will offer more accurate, convenient, and comprehensive health management solutions for global consumers.
Digital creation that witnesses the Creation of Beauty
Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2″, Huawei’s latest flagship tablet, and a myriad of works created by global creators using the tablet drew intense interest at MWC 2024. The tablet was launched in 2023 as the first tablet to support NearLink technology, marking the tenth year of Huawei tablets. It is also the thinnest tablet that’s ever been made with the narrowest bezels and highest screen-to-body ratio. It works seamlessly with Huawei M-Pencil (3rd generation), the first stylus to support 10,000+ pressure sensing levels, resulting in an unprecedented digital creation experience. Huawei’s global GoPaint Activity in 2023 invited digital creators to showcase works made on Huawei tablets. By developing cutting-edge tablet capabilities, Huawei aims to make the joy of creation more accessible to all, so that everyone can better express themselves.
At the event, Huawei noted that it will continue to increase its investment in digital creation in 2024 by prioritizing PaperMatte Display and NearLink technology, to provide consumers with more enhanced digital creation experiences. The GoPaint Activity hosted by Huawei will also witness an upgrade to cover more countries and regions, making it a genuine global force in the digital art community.
Huawei’s achievements in mobile imaging are no less noteworthy, with the launch of the XMAGE brand, which encompasses every aspect from optical systems to imaging technology and image processing. In 2023, Huawei’s flagship products, like Huawei Mate 60 Series, Huawei Mate X5, and Huawei P60 Series, came equipped with XMAGE capabilities, to provide users with a brand-new mobile photography experience. Huawei XMAGE Awards in 2023 saw over 600,000+ submissions from nearly 100 countries/regions. It aims to inspire users to capture and share the beauty in their midst, express their emotions, and showcase the power of smartphone photography.
Huawei’s showcase at MWC 2024 demonstrated the company’s commitment to the global high-end market. 2024 will be a critical year, as Huawei will break through boundaries and make high-end, fashion-forward, and technology-driven products, services, and experiences more accessible to users worldwide, with increased R&D investment in innovative technologies, thus setting a benchmark for the industry.
