Huawei's High-End Three-Front War: Can the Mate70 Series, MateX6, and AITO S800 All Triumph?

Huawei's High-End Three-Front War: Can the Mate70 Series, MateX6, and AITO S800 All Triumph?On November 26th, Huawei held a new product launch event, unveiling the Mate70 series smartphones, the MateX6 foldable phone, and the "million-yuan-level" flagship sedan, AITO S800, alongside other products like the new AITO S7. This launch served as a declaration of Huawei's simultaneous foray into the high-end smartphone and luxury car markets, with its strategic intentions clear: the Mate70 series will compete with Apple's iPhone 16 series in the high-end smartphone market; the MateX6 will vie with Samsung and Honor for market share in the foldable phone segment; and the AITO S800 directly targets traditional luxury car brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi in the ultra-luxury car market

Huawei's High-End Three-Front War: Can the Mate70 Series, MateX6, and AITO S800 All Triumph?

On November 26th, Huawei held a new product launch event, unveiling the Mate70 series smartphones, the MateX6 foldable phone, and the "million-yuan-level" flagship sedan, AITO S800, alongside other products like the new AITO S7. This launch served as a declaration of Huawei's simultaneous foray into the high-end smartphone and luxury car markets, with its strategic intentions clear: the Mate70 series will compete with Apple's iPhone 16 series in the high-end smartphone market; the MateX6 will vie with Samsung and Honor for market share in the foldable phone segment; and the AITO S800 directly targets traditional luxury car brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi in the ultra-luxury car market. Whether Huawei can achieve victory on all three fronts is a key focus of industry attention.

Mate70 Series: A Long-Awaited Powerful Return

The Mate70 series comprises four models: Mate70, Mate70 Pro, Mate70 Pro+, and Mate70 RS Porsche Design, maintaining the Mate series' consistent high-end positioning and superior performance. The series features second-generation Kunlun Glass, second-generation XMAGE communication technology, and a debut satellite messaging function alongside a high-brightness titanium Xuanwu body. The back cover uses a Jinfian material and boasts IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance. In terms of imaging, the Mate70 series debuts the Hongfeng original color imaging system. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG, stated that its 1.5 million+ spectral channel Hongfeng original color camera boasts "image-level" spectral information capture capabilities, improving color accuracy reproduction by 120%.

However, the launch event didn't specify the chip model. Supply chain sources suggest it still utilizes a HiSilicon Kirin chip, but the exact model remains unclear. The Huawei Mate70 series is priced between 5499 yuan and 12999 yuan. The Mate70 Pro+ is 500 yuan cheaper than its Mate60 predecessor, while other versions maintain the same price.

Unlike previous strategies of launching before Apple's iPhone, the Mate70 series' release was delayed until late November. According to previous supply chain reports, this was primarily due to the adaptation of native HarmonyOS applications. WeChat, a super-app with nearly 1.4 billion users, only officially announced its adaptation to the native HarmonyOS system on October 8th. Even after adaptation, WeChat's HarmonyOS version is significantly less functional than its Android and iOS counterparts. Many native HarmonyOS applications face similar situations, currently addressing only app usability. Smooth and complete user experience still requires time.

To mitigate this potential risk, Huawei announced at the launch that the Mate70 series and MateX6 will offer both HarmonyOS 4.3 and native HarmonyOS 5.0 system versions. HarmonyOS 4.3 remains compatible with Android apps, while native HarmonyOS 5.0 requires more time to improve its app ecosystem. To incentivize users to upgrade to the native HarmonyOS system, Huawei launched the "Harmony Advantage" plan, offering a 900 yuan benefit package to users upgrading to native HarmonyOS (HarmonyOS NEXT) on Mate70/MateX6. Richard Yu stated that the HarmonyOS ecosystem is expected to be further improved and optimized in two to three months, with plans to launch smartphones and tablets equipped with the native HarmonyOS system next year.

The Mate70 series continues the excellent performance of its predecessors, with highlights including satellite messaging and multi-spectral channels. Its competition with the iPhone 16 series will be a major theme in the Chinese smartphone market over the next year. However, the Mate70 series still needs to address the production capacity issues encountered by the Mate60 series. Supply chain sources indicate that components for the Mate70 series started shipping in September, with planned production volume increased by about 50% compared to the Mate60. Reports suggest the expected lifetime supply of the Mate70 series is approximately 15 million units, about 20% higher than the Mate60 series.

However, the growth momentum of Huawei's smartphone business is slowing. IDC data shows Huawei regained the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market in the first half of the year with a 17.5% market share, with smartphone shipments increasing by 110% and 50.2% in Q1 and Q2 respectively. However, in Q3, Huawei fell to fifth place with 9.9 million units shipped, a year-on-year increase of only 19%. TechInsights points out that Huawei's growth momentum slowed this quarter, with the PURA series performing poorly, while Mate60 series demand remained robust. Huawei's Q3 releases, the Nova Flip and Mate XT foldable phones, also underperformed due to high prices and a general cooling of the Chinese foldable phone market. Therefore, the Mate70 series carries significant market pressure.

MateX6: Continued Leader in the Foldable Phone Market

Along with the Mate70 series, Huawei launched the new MateX6 foldable phone. The previously released Mate XT tri-fold phone, with its nearly 20,000 yuan price tag and million-level pre-orders, generated significant attention. The MateX6, a standard large foldable phone, is slightly lower in price and positioning than the Mate XT.

Compared to its predecessor, the MateX6 has larger inner and outer screens, with a 7.93-inch inner screen (1800 nit peak brightness) and a 6.45-inch outer screen (2500 nit peak brightness). Additionally, the MateX6 uses a distributed Xuanwu architecture, debuts XingShan power-off precise positioning technology, and features second-generation Xuanwu tempered Kunlun glass, a carbon fiber inner screen support layer, an ultra-strong wing aluminum body frame, a new Xuanwu waterdrop hinge, and ultra-high thermal conductivity graphene material. Richard Yu called the MateX6 "the world's first mass-produced smartphone to support three-network satellite communication," supporting Beidou satellite messaging, TianTong satellite communication, and low-orbit satellite internet (the low-orbit satellite network system is currently under testing, expected to be publicly tested in the second half of 2025).

The MateX6 is priced between 12999 yuan and 15999 yuan, consistent with its predecessor. Huawei's foldable phones have long held a leading position in the domestic market. IDC data shows Huawei held a 41% market share in Q3, marking its 20th consecutive quarter as the number one foldable phone brand in China. The MateX6's capabilities are sufficient to help Huawei maintain its leading position. However, the growth rate of the foldable phone market is slowing. CINNOResearch data shows that the sales of foldable phones in the Chinese market in Q3 reached 3.54 million units, a year-on-year increase of 79% and a month-on-month increase of 35%, significantly lower than the growth rate in the same period last year. IDC predicts that global foldable phone shipments will increase by 22% year-on-year in 2024, with a similarly significant slowdown in growth. Therefore, Huawei needs to consider how to expand the audience for foldable phones to maintain its lead.

AITO S800: The Challenge of Entering the Million-Yuan Luxury Car Market

AITO, Huawei's luxury car brand in partnership with JAC Motors, showcased its flagship sedan, the AITO S800, though not officially launched. Richard Yu referred to it as the "culmination of HarmonyOS intelligent driving." The AITO S800 incorporates numerous "starlight" design elements, with a length of 5.5 meters and a wheelbase of 3.3 meters. Its pre-sale price is between 1 million and 1.5 million yuan, directly competing with luxury sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8.

In 2023, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class sold approximately 22,000 units, the Maybach S-Class around 14,000 units, the BMW 7 Series about 12,000 units, and the Audi A8 approximately 11,000 units. For the AITO S800 to rank among the top ultra-luxury cars, it needs to exceed 1,000 units in monthly sales. Huawei's AITO and Seres brands have achieved some success in the luxury car market, particularly the AITO M9, which has been the sales champion of luxury cars priced over 500,000 yuan for seven consecutive months since its large-scale delivery in April 2024, breaking the dominance of BBA (BMW, Benz, Audi). However, the million-yuan luxury car market differs significantly from lower-priced segments in terms of competitive environment and customer base, presenting a significant challenge for Huawei.

In conclusion, Huawei's simultaneous entry into the high