Huawei Slashes Flagship Phone Price Amid Slowing Shipments
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Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has reduced the price of its latest flagship smartphone series, a strategic recalibration aimed at rekindling momentum after a slowdown in domestic smartphone shipments.
At a product launch on Tuesday, the Chinese tech giant introduced its new premium Mate 80 series, starting at 4,699 yuan ($661), along with the foldable Mate X7 priced from 12,999 yuan. The entry-level Mate 80 is 800 yuan cheaper than its predecessor, even as memory component prices have surged over the past year. Sales begin Nov. 28 for the Mate 80 and Dec. 5 for the Mate X7.
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- Huawei cut prices on its Mate 80 series, starting at 4,699 yuan, and the foldable Mate X7, starting at 12,999 yuan, amid declining smartphone shipments.
- Mate 80 Pro Max claims a 42% performance boost, while both new phones run HarmonyOS 6; HarmonyOS adoption reached over 27 million devices.
- Huawei’s Q3 2024 China smartphone market share dropped to around 15–16%, behind Vivo (17–18%) and Apple (15.8%).
- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has recently cut prices on its new flagship smartphones, the Mate 80 and foldable Mate X7, to regain market momentum. The company saw a decline in Chinese mainland shipments in Q2 and Q3 despite a previous resurgence. Huawei's proprietary HarmonyOS, now fully severed from Android, is on over 27 million devices, posing both user adoption challenges and long-term competitive potential.
- Apple
- Apple holds a 15.8% market share in the Chinese mainland smartphone market, placing it second behind Vivo's 17.2%. This information highlights Apple's competitive position in a key global market.
- Vivo
- "维沃移动通信有限公司" (Vivo) is a prominent smartphone brand in the Chinese market. It held the largest market share with 17.2% in the third quarter, surpassing Huawei (15.2%) and Apple (15.8%). Another report shows Vivo having an 18% market share in the same period, ahead of Huawei's 16%.
- September 2023：
- Huawei reentered the high-end smartphone market, leading to a comeback driven by proprietary chips.
- Second quarter of 2025：
- IDC data showed a 3.4% year-on-year decline in Huawei's Chinese mainland smartphone shipments.
- Third quarter of 2025：
- The downward trend continued with a 1% drop in shipments; Huawei ranked third with a 15.2% market share.
- Third quarter of 2025：
- Omdia reported a 3% decline in Huawei’s shipments, with market share at 16%, behind Vivo (18%).
- Third quarter of 2025：
- Counterpoint recorded a 2.6% drop in Huawei’s sales over the same period.
- By Oct. 22, 2025：
- Huawei reported more than 27 million devices running HarmonyOS 5 or 6, up from 23 million.
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