LIVE FROM CES ASIA, SHANGHAI: Huawei used its keynote to introduce its latest computer products into the Chinese consumer electronics market, with a particular focus on the flagship in the line – MateBook X.

The emphasis placed on China is not surprising. Huawei is already a recognised brand through its top placing in the smartphone market, with an established retail presence in the country.

According to figures from trade group Consumer Technology Association and research company GfK Digital World cited at the event, emerging Asia – China and India – make up 29 per cent of retail consumer technology sales.

Wan Biao, COO of Huawei’s consumer unit (pictured, left), noted the trade-offs evident in traditional laptops. High performance devices lose out in terms of design and portability, while more stylish and lightweight products lose out on the spec sheet, he said.

“The laptop computers we are using now are pretty clumsy, and hard to carry around,” he observed.

The comparison used throughout the presentation was Apple’s 13.3-inch MacBook Pro. With thin (4.4mm) bezels, the Huawei device boasts a screen-to-body ratio of 88 per cent, compared with 76 per cent for the Apple computer, and also trumps the MacBook by being 12.5mm thick at its widest point compared with 14.9mm for the Apple model, the China-headquartered vendor said.

Other products introduced by Huawei include the MateBook E two-in-one, and entry-level MateBook D.

Microsoft collaboration
Joining Huawei on stage was Alain Crozier, Microsoft’s Greater China chief, who talked up a partnership covering the MateBook devices, asserting the companies would “go beyond that and offer new form factors in future”.

Crozier also highlighted the recent announcement of a flavour of Windows 10 targeting the Chinese government and state-owned entities (SOE), which removes some unnecessary features (such as OneDrive integration), includes telemetry and update management, and is compatible with the government’s own encryption algorithms.

With Lenovo already on board to support this operating system, Huawei potentially offers another Chinese hardware vendor supporting a platform specifically targeting the Chinese government and SOEs – a massive market.

MateBook X pricing starts at CNY6,988 (€913) in its base configuration, bundled with a Microsoft Office subscription and MateDock dongle. This indicates a significant difference over the device pricing for European market, which starts from €1,399.

Huawei unveiled the new MateBook line at an event in Berlin late last month.