Huawei Releases Latest Flagship Phone Amid Global Coronavirus Lockdown

Huawei has announced the release of the flagship phone, but the launch comes at a time when many countries are imposing lockdowns, or asking for voluntary social distancing due to COVID-19.

What Happened

Huawei’s P40 Pro Plus will be released on April 7, the company announced on Thursday. The flagship phone comes with a camera containing 5 sensors capable of 100x zoom. The P40 Pro Plus is the priciest in the P40 range at 1,399 Euros ($1,545).

CNBC cited Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, an industry analyst firm on the launch, “Arguably there could not be a worse time to launch a set of premium smartphones given the current global headwinds, but Huawei may be in a better position than some rivals.”

Why It Matters

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to stay-at-home or lockdown orders in major phone markets such as India, China, the U.S., and Europe. 

Rival Apple Inc. AAPL is considering putting off the launch of its first-ever 5G flagship device to 2021 due to pandemic related concerns.

Due to trade restrictions imposed on Huawei, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL GOOG Android operating system is not supported on Huawei’s devices. Popular applications like Gmail and YouTube are also absent from the phones.

Huawei is developing its own Harmony OS operating system to get around the U.S. imposed restrictions, but has yet to ship any phones running it.

The P40 Plus’ camera was developed with German lensmaker Leica, the same company that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. SSNLF works with for its S20 range. P40 Plus pars with Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra and supports 5G.

Posted In: NewsTechMediaGeneralCNBCCoronavirusHuawei
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