Huawei launches the Pura 70 smartphone to challenge Apple in China

These sanctions, which began in 2019, almost wiped out Huawei's smartphone business.

Now Huawei is trying to make a comeback. The company's smartphone shipments in China rose 64% year-over-year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to Counterpoint Research, while Apple iPhone sales fell 24% during the period.

Huawei's latest phones represent the latest challenge to Apple, the dominant foreign smartphone brand in China.

The Pura 70 series consists of four devices – Pura 70, Pura 70 Pro, Pura 70 Pro Plus, and Pura 70 Ultra – according to Huawei's official website.

Here are the starting prices in China for each:

• Bora 70: 5499 yuan
• Bora 70 Pro: 6,499 yuan
• Bora 70 Pro Plus: 7,999 yuan
• Pura 70 Ultra: 9,999 yuan

Apple's iPhone 15 price in China starts at 5,999 yuan, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at 9,999 yuan. So Huawei directly challenges Apple in the same price categories.

Huawei has packed the devices with premium smartphone features. The back of the phone has a textured cover, while the Ultra version of the gear has a 6.8-inch screen. All of the new phone offerings are equipped with triple-lens cameras, with features including long-range zoom and the ability to take photos of fast-moving objects.

The Pura 70 series also runs HarmonyOS 4.2, Huawei's proprietary operating system that was first released in 2019 after US sanctions cut off Google's Android operating system.

Huawei did not reveal the central processing chip inside the device, after eyebrows were raised when it hacked into semiconductors last year. Many bloggers on Chinese social media indicate that the phone uses the Kirin 9010 processor designed by Huawei, which CNBC has not been able to independently verify.

This will be an upgrade from the Kirin 9000s processor, which was reportedly used in last year's Mate 60.

Huawei was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.