Beijing, September 4, 2024 — Huawei has announced plans for a product launch event on September 10, just hours after Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 16 reveal, in a move designed to challenge U.S. tech giant head-on. Chinese technology company disclosed this timing in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Monday.
Huawei’s event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Beijing time, which corresponds to the late evening of September 9 on the U.S. West Coast, where Apple is set to unveil its latest iPhone lineup earlier that day. Apple’s event, carrying the tagline “It’s Glowtime,” is expected to draw global attention, but Huawei’s closely timed launch suggests it is eager to compete directly with Apple’s new products.
While Huawei has not disclosed exactly what it plans to unveil, Richard Yu, who leads Huawei’s consumer and automotive technology division, hinted at something significant. According to a Google translation of his Weibo post, Yu described the upcoming product as “leading, innovative, and disruptive,” adding that it is an “epoch-making product that others have thought of but cannot make.” He also mentioned that this innovation is the result of five years of investment, claiming that Huawei has “turned science fiction into reality.”
Huawei was once the world’s largest smartphone maker, but its handset business suffered greatly after U.S. sanctions cut off its access to advanced semiconductors. Despite the challenges, the company has made a surprising comeback. Last year, Huawei launched a smartphone featuring a highly advanced chip that caught the attention of both policymakers in Washington and the global tech community. Earlier this year, Huawei released a new smartphone, further signaling its resurgence.
This revival has posed a significant challenge to Apple, especially in China. According to research from Canalys, Apple fell out of the top five smartphone vendors by market share in China during the second quarter of 2024. In contrast, Huawei saw its smartphone shipments in China surge by 41% year-on-year during the same period, marking the fastest growth among the top five brands.
As Huawei gears up for its September 10 event, all eyes will be on how this latest product stacks up against Apple’s new iPhone 16. timing and tone of Huawei’s announcements suggest that the company is ready to reclaim its position in the global smartphone market, setting the stage for a high-stakes battle between two of the world’s biggest tech companies.
