On April 18, Huawei Pura 70 officially hit the shelves. Many experts believe that the device still uses the same “made in China” chip as the Mate 60. Pura 70 is equipped with an improved camera and a sophisticated design, while Mate emphasizes performance and professional features.

The launch of the Huawei Mate 60 was celebrated by Chinese users as a victory over the US embargo because the device contains domestically produced chips, only a few generations behind the most advanced ones.

In fact, Pura is a rebranded P series. The Pura 70 includes four versions: 70, 70 Plus, 70 Pro, and 70 Ultra. The starting price of the Pura 70 is 5,499 yuan (VND 19.3 million). The Pro and Ultra versions will be sold first from April 18, while the Plus and regular versions will be sold later on April 22.

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Customers look at the new Pura 70 at a Huawei store in Beijing, April 18. Photo: Reuters

According to Reuters , the P70 Ultra and Pro were sold out on the official website within a minute of going on sale. Hundreds of Huawei fans lined up outside official stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. SCMP quoted a Huawei sales staff as saying that to buy the smartphone, they had to be present to make a reservation. Some models, such as the 512GB Pura 70 Ultra, were sold out before noon that day.

When Reuters visited a Huawei store in Shenzhen on Tuesday, about 100 people were lining up and being given water. In Shanghai, customers were asked to open boxes and register their devices at the counter, possibly to prevent resale for profit. Staff also told people there was no guarantee they would be able to get a device that day because of high demand.

Like last year’s Mate 60 Pro, the Pura 70’s launch has attracted a lot of attention from Chinese netizens, dominating the “hot” topics on the Weibo platform, with some users posting photos of their newly purchased phones and long lines outside Huawei stores.

It’s also being closely watched by the industry as Huawei’s biggest launch since the Mate 60 Pro. Huawei’s smartphone sales in the first six weeks of 2024 were up 64% from a year earlier, according to research firm Counterpoint. Meanwhile, rival Apple fell 24% in the same period.

Ivan Lam, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, predicts that the Pura 70 will sell 60 million units this year, continuing Huawei's growth momentum. He said supply will be much better than when the Mate 60 Pro was launched.

The Kirin 9000s chip in the Mate 60 Pro is said to be manufactured by SMIC despite US restrictions aimed at curbing China’s semiconductor capabilities. Huawei was added to a trade blacklist in May 2019, forcing the giant to cancel major product launches, significantly affecting its consumer business.

In August 2023, the company quietly announced the Mate 60 Pro – its first 5G smartphone in three years – and also kept quiet about the origin of the chip inside.

The Mate 60 Pro was hugely popular in China, becoming a symbol of patriotism and helping Huawei regain the top spot in the domestic smartphone market. However, it also prompted the US government to launch an investigation into the chip earlier this year.

(According to Reuters, SCMP)