Huawei Unveils Pura Series: A Design Revolution
On the morning of April 15th, Huawei’s official Weibo account released an anticipatory video for the P70 series smartphones.
In the teaser, Huawei’s Executive Director and CEO of the Consumer Business Group, Yu Chengdong, announced the official upgrade of the Huawei P series to “Huawei Pura,” marking a fresh start for the series. The originally planned P70 will be the first product of this new lineup.
Triangle Camera Island Design: A Disruptive Move?
The Huawei P series, with a 12-year history since its debut with the Ascend P1, has evolved from being part of the Ascend brand to focusing on imaging performance as a youthful flagship series.
With advancing technology, Huawei’s product series have all seen upgrades. The initial D series evolved into the Mate series, the P series transitioned into a younger flagship focusing on imaging, and the G series transformed into the Nova series, emphasizing style. Now, the P series has officially been renamed the Pura series, continuing to strengthen its imaging technology.
Yu Chengdong remarked that the development history of Huawei’s P series smartphones is, in fact, a history of mobile imaging and the evolution of technological aesthetics. As the P series is officially upgraded to the Pura series, Huawei will continue to incorporate technology, fashion, and art into its products.
According to insiders, the Huawei Pura 70 may adopt a triangular camera island design. The triangular shape showcased in the teaser video left a profound impression.
Currently, smartphone camera islands commonly feature traditional square or circular shapes. If the Pura 70 series adopts a triangular design, it would be a significant disruption and innovation in the industry.
The Art of Naming
“Pura” in Spanish means “pure” or “beautiful.” Yu Chengdong also emphasized in the teaser video the commitment to a high-end, ultimate, minimalist, and pure design philosophy.
Unlike the P series and Mate series, the pronunciation of “Pura” has puzzled many netizens. Some find it a bit awkward to pronounce and speculate that it might not be conducive to offline promotion.
Interestingly, upon the release of the Huawei Pura brand, netizens playfully suggested alternative names. Some proposed calling it “Piaoliang” (similar pronunciation, good connotation), while others directly named it “Piaola.” What kind of pun is this?
Previously, Huawei’s Mate and Pocket also had their own “Chinese names,” namely “Meitui” (beautiful legs) and “Baohe” (treasure box). We eagerly await the Chinese name for the Pura series.
There is no clear timeline for the release and sale of the Huawei Pura 70 series yet. Some netizens speculate that since there is a teaser video, there is likely to be a launch event. However, considering the approach taken with the Huawei Mate 60 series, the Pura 70 series might also adopt a strategy of presale before official release.
Smartphone Industry Sees a Resurgence, Apple’s Dominance Challenged
According to data from Counterpoint Research, Huawei smartphones reclaimed the top spot in sales in the first two weeks of 2024. In the first six weeks of 2024, Huawei smartphone sales increased by 64% year-on-year, securing a 17% market share, ranking second.
The report also mentioned that the continued popularity of the Mate 60 series smartphones has attracted and satisfied strong market demand, becoming one of the few highlights of 2024.
The strong sales of the Mate 60 series have helped Huawei’s terminal business end the trend of declining revenue for the past two years, achieving revenue growth. This shift not only has a positive impact on Huawei itself but also injects new vitality into the entire smartphone industry.
In stark contrast, Apple is facing setbacks.
A report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that in the first three months of 2024, global shipments of Apple’s iPhone decreased by 9.6% year-on-year. Apple attributed this decline to hitting a “wall” in the Chinese market. Facing pressure from competitors like Huawei, iPhone sales in China have suffered a considerable blow.
With declining smartphone shipments, Apple quietly relinquished its throne in the smartphone industry. IDC data shows that Samsung Electronics replaced Apple as the world’s largest smartphone supplier in the first quarter of 2024.
Furthermore, global smartphone shipments grew by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth, indicating a resurgence in the entire smartphone industry.
Domestically renowned smartphone brands like Xiaomi performed exceptionally well, ranking third globally in the first quarter with a shipment volume of 40.8 million units, second only to Apple, with a year-on-year growth of 33.8%. Another domestic brand, OPPO, ranked fifth in shipment volume globally.