Huawei launches Mate 70 smartphone as reports of more US chip restrictions begin
Huawei officially unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 70 series, on Tuesday (November 26) as the business faces potential export controls in the future.
The new series is the successor to the Mate 60 series which the Chinese technology giant launched in August of last year, amidst the export controls brought in by the U.S.
At an event in the company’s hometown of Shenzhen, the chairman of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group Richard Yu described the release as being “the most powerful Mate phone ever.”
This comes just days after Reuters reported the U.S. is expected to announce new export controls that could add up to 200 Chinese chip companies to a trade blacklist as soon as this week. This would restrict their access to suppliers in the States.
While the product launch shared the news of the company completely moving away from Android, Huawei remained quiet about its chip advancements but it hasn’t discussed these at product launch events in the past.
What is the Huawei Mate 70 smartphone?Instead, all eyes were on the Mate 70 which will include three devices – the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, and Mate 70 Pro+.
The devices will include a satellite paging system, and an improved processor, and will be run on the company’s self-developed operating system named HarmonyOS NEXT.
This complete move away from Android marks the technology giant’s move towards technology independence which will be beneficial should the U.S. impose further sanctions and restrictions.
The system is reported to need another two to three months to improve its user experience, but the plan is to use it on upcoming gadgets and the Mate 70 series.
The phones have debuted in the three devices, with pre-orders having been open for the last week.
The standard device, along with the Pro, will come in Black, White, Green, and Purple colors with 12 GB RAM. Storage will be either 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB.
The Mate 70 Pro+ will come in Black and White with different color finish options like Gold and Sky Blue. This will be available with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB or 1 TB storage.
Featured Image: Image Credit to VMALL [Screenshot]
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