Emerging Evolving Excelling

The HUAWEI Mate Series is now in its 10th year after the first generation of Huawei’s original Mate phone in 2013. With that consideration in mind, let’s look into the history of Huawei’s Mate series in the past decade. After two-years waiting, the much-anticipated HUAWEI Mate 50 Series has been launched in September 2022. HUAWEI Mate Series smartphones have invariably distinguished themselves from other high-end flagship models, with each generation incorporating the latest and greatest Huawei innovations, from vast displays and powerful batteries to excellent exteriors, high performance and Kirin chipsets.

Emerging with courage: The first Mate ever, world’s first 6.1-inch large screen

The HUAWEI Mate line-up of smartphones was kicked off back in January 2013. The first HUAWEI Mate, called the Ascend Mate, debuted with a compact body, and the largest 6.1-inch display yet seen on a smartphone. Huawei showed great courage and resolution in adopting such big screen while the major sizes of smartphones are around 4 to 5 inches. Aside from being enormous, the Ascend Mate adopted a massive 4050 mAh battery, providing the longest battery time among its major competitors such as Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Long battery life later became the distinctive features of Huawei’s Mate series.

World’s first smartphone with touch fingerprint sensor

The HUAWEI Ascend Mate 7 was the third phone in the Mate lineup, and the last one to include Huawei’s ‘Ascend’ branding. HUAWEI Ascend Mate 7 was launched in September 2014, with the world's first smartphone with touch fingerprint sensor. Users can just hold a finger to the sensor area for a second, and it will wake and unlock the device, making access so much easier. In addition, Huawei also introduced its own octa-core Hisilicon Kirin 925 chipset for superior performance. The HUAWEI Ascend Mate 7 was the first Mate introduced to the Middle East and North African region. As the pioneer of high-end brand building, Huawei MENA was one of the first region to launch the Mate series overseas, showcasing Huawei MENA’s early start and dedication to this region. Huawei aimed to raise awareness of its fast-growing smartphone business and build affinity for its premium devices with MENA regional consumers.

Faster than ever, HUAWEI Mate 9 series

Introduced with the world’s first smartphone with a 22.5W fast charge, the HUAWEI Mate 9 series was fitted with an entirely new battery charging technology called the ‘SuperCharge’, which was undoubtedly the change consumers all been waiting for. With the lightning-fast charging feature, users can recharge the smartphones' battery faster than ever before.

The new HUAWEI Mate 9 series is faster in not only charging speed, but also in sales. It became one of the records selling smartphones of Huawei, with the 5 million units sold in just 4 months after its launch.

The world’s first AI processor for smartphones, Dubai Font and MEA’s first HES

A new era of intelligent smartphones has dawned as HUAWEI opens the door to new AI mobile applications through the HUAWEI Mate 10 series in 2017. It was the first smartphone that came with an AI camera and TÜV Rheinland safety certificated SuperCharge. Not only does it include an AI Engine to fully leverage the Kirin 970, which is the world’s first AI processor for smartphones, but also has an easy projection feature to provide you a unique desktop experience to be more productive with EMUI Desktop mode.

The MEA region, Huawei has partnered with the Executive Council of Dubai to be one of the first smartphone companies to introduce Dubai Font to their users. The Mate 10 Series is the first smartphone series by Huawei that has Dubai Font embedded into it, which signifies the commitment Huawei has to the region.

At the same year 2017, Huawei opened its first Middle East HES (Huawei Experience Store) in Dubai. The store is designed to boost the company’s standing in the region as it competes with Apple and Samsung for a larger share of premium smartphone customers. It also further demonstrated its commitment to investment and fast growing in the region. Huawei, had firmly pushed forward its consumer businesses step by step in MEA as it did in many other regions.

Light up with HUAWEI Mate 20 Series

On October 26 2018, Huawei lit up the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, with an epic light show in Dubai to launch their hotly anticipated HUAWEI Mate 20 series for MEA consumers. The HUAWEI Mate 20 series soon became the recording selling product of Huawei flagship smartphones in MEA. Globally, Huawei managed to sell over 17 million HUAWEI Mate 20 series smartphones, which is a milestone for Huawei in high-end market.

The year of Camera revolutions:

The year 2019 witnessed a radical evolution of camera experiences for Huawei. On April 1, 2019, Huawei launched the HUAWEI P30 series in MEA, setting goals to rewrite the rules of photography. During its launch, Huawei also announced that it has worked to optimise the HUAWEI P30 series camera for Snapchat, bringing more camera innovation to users, aiming for Snapchatters to soon be able to enjoy more experience. Later this year, the HUAWEI Mate 30 series has also refashioned as a camera first, smartphone second, to a degree. The HUAWEI Mate 30 series differs from the previous series in terms of the camera setup and display. HUAWEI Mate 30 Series has redefined smartphone capabilities of taking professional videos in cinematic tones. The SuperSensing Cine Camera features a large 1/1.54-inch sensor size with a high maximum ISO of 51200 for low light shooting. It’s also worth mentioning that HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro topped off with the premium orange vegan leather version to make it stand out from the crowd.

Transformation in 2020&2021: HUAWEI Mate Xs with HUAWEI AppGallery, “1+8+N” ecosystem, and “Super Device”

In 2020, Huawei is taking the novel foldable experience one step further with HUAWEI Mate Xs. The HUWAEI Mate Xs features the unique Falcon Wing design. A work of art in and of itself, the hinge enables a seamless transformation between smartphone and tablet modes. The HUAWEI Mate Xs was also one of the first Huawei devices to launch with a revamped HUAWEI AppGallery, Huawei’s official app distribution platform.

In 2021, Huawei introduced a new range of ‘Super Device’ experience products in the UAE powered by its own operating system HarmonyOS, giving consumers access to a seamless and truly intelligent experience across multiple devices in all different types of scenarios.

Huawei also worked with Emirates, one of the world’s premier international airlines, as a HarmonyOS ecosystem partner, providing users with a real Super Device Smart experience. Huawei customers could check the status of their Emirates travel bookings and flight details directly from their smartwatch.

Excel in tough times: Huawei never stops

Looking back the past decade of Huawei, the Mate series emerged with courage of Huawei to invest in high-end smartphones and the resolution to build their own brand. It evolved quickly with the coming of HUAWEI Mate lineup of smartphones. From the Ascend Mate to the Mate Xs, Huawei has consistently pursued groundbreaking innovations, and the HUAWEI Mate Series is the crown jewel of its relentless efforts to bring cutting-edge technology to smartphones.

The evolution of Mate over the past decade is the story of smartphone innovation. The original Mate model introduced a new large display, while Mate 7 garnered widespread acclaim. Mate products are designed with an uncompromising attention to detail and represent Huawei's commitment to serving its users. By continuously investing on the core technologies to satisfying the consumer experiences in a down-to-earth manner, Huawei proved that they can successfully break through and excel in difficult times.

• Business Technology Review