【英语财经】华为推出新款手机P9 搅动高端手机市场 Huawei dials up new handset to build consumer brand

Huawei will mount its biggest challenge to rival high-end smartphone makers with a revamped flagship device and big budget advertising campaign designed to win over Western consumers.

The Chinese telecoms group on Tuesday unveiled its latest handset, the P9, which features an advanced Leica camera and will pit the company against recently launched devices from Samsung and Apple.

Huawei is planning its largest global marketing campaign to support the launch of the phone. The effort will help push the Huawei brand in Europe, according to Colin Giles, executive vice-president of Huawei’s consumer business group.

The company has built the third-largest smartphone franchise in the world with successive ranges of reasonably priced but technologically advanced devices. The previous flagship phone, the P8, sold about 5m units.

In most respects, the P9 is much like other high-end Android devices but that in itself is significant given Huawei’s traditional position at the low- or mid-end of the smartphone market.

Mr Giles described the new phone as the “biggest launch we have had”, adding that the “aspiration is to create a premium device to compete with Apple and Samsung”.

Huawei has struggled to gain the sort of brand recognition of rival groups, with much of the early coverage of the company focused on the damaging accusations from US politicians of links with the Chinese state.

But the company said its consumer business reported a 73 per cent growth in annual revenue in 2015 to $19.9bn, which it ascribed to improvements in its products and growing recognition as a consumer brand.

Huawei has become the largest smartphone maker in China and is in the top three handset makers in 10 European countries.

通过全新旗舰产品和旨在争取西方消费者的大手笔广告宣传战，华为(Huawei)将向高端智能手机制造商对手发起最大挑战。

周二，这家中国电信集团发布了最新款手机P9。这款配备先进的徕卡(Leicas)摄像头的手机，将让华为与三星(Samsung)和苹果(Apple)近期发布的手机一较高下。

华为正在筹备一场该公司史上最大规模的全球营销战，以支持这款手机的推出。根据华为消费者业务部门执行副总裁赵科林(Colin Giles)的说法，此举将有助于在欧洲推广华为品牌。

该公司已建成了全球第三大智能手机经销系统，销售定价合理、技术先进的手机系列产品。其之前的旗舰手机P8销量约为500万部。

从多方面来说，P9与其他高端Android手机十分类似。不过，考虑到华为在智能手机中低端市场的传统定位，该手机本身意义重大。

赵科林称这款新手机是“我们史上的最大动作”，并补充说“我们渴望打造一款高端手机，与苹果和三星竞争”。

早期，很多有关华为的报道集中于来自美国政界的有负面影响的指控，这些指控称华为与中国政府有关系。出于这个原因，华为很难赢得与对手类似的品牌认可程度。

不过该公司表示，2015年其消费者业务部门录得年度营收199亿美元，增长幅度达73%。该公司将这一增长归功于产品改善和其作为消费品牌日益受到的认可。

华为已成为中国最大智能手机制造商，并且是10个欧洲国家的前三大手机制造商。

译者/简易