Come early 2015, two new Huawei flagship smartphones will hit African shores - the Ascend Mate 7 and Ascend G7.
Both of these devices are targeted at users wanting increased functionality from their device. Be it consuming media, browsing the Web or reviewing documents and spreadsheets on their smartphone, these users need the convenience of a smartphone with a screen size rivalling that of a tablet, said Yudi Rambaran, director for product marketing at Huawei's Consumer Business Unit in SA, at a media launch event in Cape Town last night. This makes the phablet category so appealing, he continued.
Rambaran noted these devices are intended to provide consumers with access to a high-end smartphone experience at a reasonable price point. The aluminium alloy bodied 6-inch Ascend Mate7 is 7.9mm slim and weighs 185g. The standard version offers 2GB RAM and 16GB of on-board memory, while the premium dual SIM device boasts 3GB RAM with 32GB memory.
Rambaran highlighted the long-term evolution-enabled handset's single-touch fingerprint technology, as well as the updated EMUI 3.0 Huawei user interface. The 5.5-inch Ascend G7 LTE Smartphone, the latest iteration in Huawei's Ascend G series, was also debuted at the event; as well as a pink version of the brand's 5.5-inch Ascend P7. The company also announced its sponsorship of the Ajax Cape Town soccer team.
Also speaking at the event, Larking Huang, GM of Huawei consumer SA, pointed out Huawei's recent success in Africa and across the globe. Huawei has shipped more than three million units across eastern and southern Africa, and more than one million units in South Africa alone. As global mobile markets open up, Huang noted Huawei's shipments have moved the Chinese brand up to third position globally.
The Ascend Mate 7 will be available from early 2015. The standard version will retail for between R7 000 and R9 000. Pricing for the dual SIM is still to be announced. The single SIM Ascend G7 handset will also be available from early 2015, at the recommended retail price of between R4 000 and R5 000. The pink Ascend P7 is already available in stores for R6 699.
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