Post date: Mar 29, 2012 12:12:47 PM
Chinese smartphones are grabbing global market share. The world’s #6 handset maker Huawei now says it has created the fastest and slimmest phones ever.
REUTERS REPORTER, TESSA DUNLOP, SAYING:
"This is where it all happens for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. I'm at the R&D centre in Shenzhen, where the company is working not just on communications equipment, but also smartphones."
Huawei wants to be a global leader in handset devices, so I spoke to the company's chief smartphone designer to find out how it plans to take on its competition like Apple and Samsung.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CHIEF DESIGN DIRECTOR FOR HANDSETS, HAGEN FENDLER, SAYING:
"We developed one year ago a new design strategy for Huawei devices and within that strategy we implemented a very consumer-centric approach that is very important now on our way to address consumers directly.
If you think about the world's fastest smartphone that means that users globally can have access to the browser in a tremendous and incredible speed, that's very understandable for consumers, that's a great user experience if they can browse in a speed that they've never experienced before.
If you produce the world's slimmest smartphone that also addresses the need for having a very sleek, very elegant, a very puristic design, combined with a very outstanding technical package and very brilliant screen. So that's all about the user experience in different markets and different segments. But we are very sure we can address global consumers with these offers."
It's a very fascinating setup we're in right now . And this market is very quick and is developing very quick, it's very, very competitive. And somehow I have the feeling, and also I am very sure about that, that Huawei is one of the companies who can really put the things together and to be really competitive in the future to be one of the leading brands in the future."
REUTERS REPORTER, TESSA DUNLOP, SAYING:
"Is there anything particular you're trying to achieve in this competitive smartphone market?"
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CHIEF DESIGN DIRECTOR FOR HANDSETS, HAGEN FENDLER, SAYING:
"We have an approach within our design that we say we have to fascinate in a split second. So if consumers pass by a point of sale, there are all these black-shaped devices, they should be fascinated in a split second by the Huawei footprint. And then the next level is that they probably take it in their hand, and then we have to persuade them with the clear structure of the product, that's what communication industrial design can do on the point of sale with the consumers."
REUTERS REPORTER, TESSA DUNLOP, SAYING:
"What type of consumers are you targeting for this new line of phones?"
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CHIEF DESIGN DIRECTOR FOR HANDSETS, HAGEN FENDLER, SAYING:
"In general we have a consumer group in mind which is called the young social network. That's a very interesting group, also a growing group and we have of course some specific research about that group, so it's a target group which is very much into communication, very much into networking, and they are slightly younger, but there's a broad range of course, but it's a young social network."