China’s Huawei Takes Aim at Apple With Latest Smartphone

Last year, the tech giant Huawei catapulted to the top of the smartphone market in China when it released the Mate 60 Pro, a phone that contained a tiny computer chip more advanced than any previously made by a Chinese company.

The chips used by Huawei’s smartphones have become a symbol in the struggle between China and the United States for control over advanced technology.

Policymakers in Washington have spent years trying to prevent Chinese companies from being able to make the kind of chip Huawei uses in its Mate phone. But Huawei has pressed ahead, and the phone has burnished its image as a national leader, triumphant in the face of U.S. restrictions.

Shoppers in China were excited to buy a phone with state-of-the-art components that had been made entirely at home. Huawei was able to appeal to Chinese customers who previously would have been more likely to buy iPhones, eating into Apple’s most important market outside the United States.

OnTuesday,Huawei unveiled the next generation of that phone, the Mate 70 series, from its offices in Shenzhen in southeastern China. Richard Yu, Huawei’s consumer group chairman, called the flagship device the “smartest” Mate phone.

Powered by its homegrown operating system, HarmonyOS Next, which was officially launched last month, the Mate 70 series has artificial intelligence-enabled functions, including improved photography, live transcription and translation of phone calls. Apple has yet to release its A.I. features in China.