Huawei has unveiled its new flagship smartphone Mate 30 series... but because of U.S. sanctions, the new smartphone comes without Google apps.
And without those apps, industry experts wonder whether the new phones can appeal to buyers outside of China.
Our Eum Ji-young has more.
At a glitzy launch in the German city of Munich on Thursday local time... Huawei said its latest Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 devices have a slick design, and cameras and screens that are better than the latest Apple iPhone.
"This is the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, the world's first smartphone with dedicated 14 megapixel cine camera, which can help you take 4K video, 60 frames per second and also with HDR Plus support. And also support time lapse, very strong 4K time lapse."
The CEO also stressed that the lineup is a 5G flagship smartphone.
But as Huawei faces the fallout from its blacklisting by the U.S. earlier this year, its new phones do not feature popular Google-licensed apps such as Chrome, Youtube or Gmail… which limits their appeal to consumers.
Also lacking is Google Play Store, which is the major way users outside China access Android apps.
Because of the restrictions imposed by the U.S. on the Chinese firm due to the trade dispute and security issues between the two countries, Huawei could not license the latest version of Android.
To address this issue, the Chinese tech giant has come up with its own alternative apps using an open-source version of Google's Android operating system.
And Huawei says its all-in-one 5G processor, dubbed "Kirin 990", is the "most sophisticated smartphone chipset launched to date"
" This is the world's first 5G SoC, revolutionary 5G SoC. It is Kirin 990. It is so small tiny, size, it is smaller than my nail size"
However, industry watchers doubt whether Huawei can power through the trade war and appeal to customers outside of China, and whether their Mate 30 phones are truly free of U.S. technology.
"So, even though Huawei has designed this processor themselves from the ground up, it is using patterns from global companies, like ARM who is a UK based company. But they have actually used a little bit of U.S. pattern technology inside of theirs. Which is why the Kirin is now in jeopardy."
Market watchers say that access to Google's apps will make it harder for Huawei to compete in the mobile phone market, but the Chinese tech giant is pushing ahead regardless, and will launch a foldable smartphone next month.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.
