Smartphone brands focus on high-end market
Chinese smartphone vendors are tapping the high-end market, a rapidly growing sector as consumers opt for 5G models with upgraded cameras and screens.
Honor, OnePlus and Xiaomi have launched flagship models recently that cost 3,000 yuan (US$469) and above. They are expected to grab market shares from Apple and Huawei.
Honor, which has become an independent firm after spin-off from Huawei, has launched special editions of its V40 models costing 2,999 yuan and 3,299 yuan as the brand’s more expensive models.
The special V40 models have a lightweight design, a new screen displaying 1-billion colors and a 64-mega-pixel rear camera with improved night photography features.
Startup brand OnePlus will begin sales of its flagship model OnePlus 9 on Tuesday with a starting price of 3,700 yuan. Over the next three years, OnePlus plans to invest a billion yuan in image color, film rate and a professional image experience to help it expand into high-end markets, CEO Liu Zuoho said during the launch of the model in Shanghai.
More than 40 percent of the phones sold in China will cost more than US$400 by the end of the second quarter, a 10 percentage points increase or an additional 30 million units compared with a year ago, according to researchers.
Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi is expected to release its high-end Mix product line soon.
The high-end market segment is fiercely competitive and complicated, said Liu, who also said the company would be opening more official stores in China.