Huawei launched the 6.8-inch P8 Max： a large-screen phone will reignite the war

As the large-screen version of the P8, Huawei today announced the retail price of the P8Max market, the high-end version (3 + 64G) is 3788 yuan, and it will be officially launched on June 26. It is reported that according to Huawei’s end point strategic plan, it is hoped that the P8 and P8Max will continue the previous hot sales of P7 and Mate7, and open up the high-end market.

A number of market research institutions, including IDC, GFK, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, and others, have released similar surveys, showing that most consumers prioritize screen size, and the larger the screen size, the better. GfK forecasts that large-screen smartphones above 5.1 inches will become the mainstream in the market in 2015, surpassing 4- to 4.5-inch phones for the first time. IDC’s forecast is more aggressive, saying that phablets with screens above 5.5 inches will become the mainstream in the future, accounting for 36% of all smartphones in 2015.

Therefore, large-screen mobile phones have become a new battlefield for major manufacturers to compete. Huawei’s 2015 global smartphone shipment target is 100 million, focusing on increasing the proportion of mid-to-high-end machines to more than 30%. In the current situation, it is not small for Huawei.

Challenge the limits of high-end large screens

With the popularity of Huawei P7 and Mate7, Huawei mobile phones have grown rapidly in the domestic market in the past year. According to Huawei’s official statistics, the global shipment of P7 has exceeded 7 million, and the global shipment of Huawei Mate7 has exceeded 5 million, of which about 70% comes from the contribution of the Chinese market.

In this regard, Zhu Ping, president of Huawei’s consumer business in China, said in an exclusive interview with Tencent Technology: "The first half of the year in China has been well completed. In addition to the continued popularity of classic products such as Huawei Mate 7, Huawei P8 and P8Max have launched attacks as new high-end product portfolios this year. In particular, the P8Max, a 6.8-inch fashion business large-screen phone, will strive to open up new market segments in the high-end field."

According to him, Huawei’s global shipments of mobile phones in the first half of the year were 50 million. Among them, the Chinese market accounted for 50%, and sales increased by 40% year-on-year.

From a product perspective, P8Max is similar to Mate7, but the target group is different from Mate7. At present, the domestic high-end mobile phone field is still occupied by 4.7 to 6-inch screen phones, Mate7 (6-inch screen) is still within the acceptable large screen range, while P8Max is a larger crossover mobile phone. The 6.8-inch screen is a new attempt in the mid-to-high-end market.

Although this screen size is indeed beyond the norm, and even the line between it and the small-sized tablet is increasingly blurred, Zhu Ping said, "This product is indeed made because the research found that many mid- to high-end users have demand for this type of product."

"Just as the BMW X6 is a crossover product between an SUV and a sedan, the P8 Max is a segment product between a mobile phone and a tablet, focusing on high-end business people," said Yang Zhe, Huawei’s China chief executive, using an analogy to the BMW X6.

At the outset, the Samsung Galaxy Note revolutionized the large-screen market, and countless mobile phone manufacturers launched large-screen products one after another. Now it remains to be seen whether the P8Max can refresh the extra-large screen size.

Strategic transformation of Huawei’s end point

In the face of slowing growth of domestic smartphones, or even the danger of beginning to decline, Huawei’s end point relies on R & D and quality-focused strategy, and has come out of a positive cycle of driving brands with flagship phones and driving sales growth with high-quality models.

"Huawei spends 10 per cent of its annual revenue on R & D and innovation. In 2014, Huawei spent about 39.50 billion-40.50 billion yuan on R & D, an increase of about 28 per cent compared with 2013. In the past 10 years, Huawei’s R & D investment has accumulated to 188 billion yuan," Zhu Ping said.

Previously, some media said that in the past 10 years, Lenovo has invested a total of 4.405 billion US dollars in R & D costs, which is less than Huawei’s R & D expenditure last year. This comparison is enough to illustrate the importance of continued high R & D investment for product quality improvement, especially in Huawei’s self-developed chip Kirin. The continuous maturation of the chip can illustrate this point.

In 2012, Huawei began to transform from a "machine sea strategy" to a "quality-focused strategy". After 2013, Huawei began to cut off the low-end mobile phone business. In mid-2014, Yu Chengdong said again: "Relying solely on operator channels to push ultra-low-end mobile phones in large quantities is doomed to be a road of no return." Huawei P7 and Mate 7 high-end mobile phones were then introduced to the market.

Data show that Huawei’s high-end smartphones accounted for 18% of shipments last year. Among them, Mate 7 has sold more than 5 million units since its launch, and P7 has sold more than 7 million units since its launch.

Zhu Ping revealed to Tencent Technology that in 2015, Huawei continued to focus on high-quality products and broke through the mid- to high-end market, with the goal of increasing the proportion of mid- to high-end machines to more than 30%. This year, more than 20 Huawei service experience halls will be built across the country.