Huawei’s Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu presents his company’s new devices during a press conference in Barcelona. Huawei yesterday launched its first smartwatch, a round-faced
device that works with Android phones.
Reuters/Barcelona
Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei yesterday launched its first smartwatch, a round-faced device that works with Android phones, joining a crowded market weeks before the introduction of the highly anticipated Apple Watch.
At an event tied to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the firm unveiled its Huawei watch line in classic, business and sporty versions, while at the same time across town, Korea’s LG Electronics launched a similar round-faced model.
Both are following the lead of Motorola, which has drawn favourable reviews for its more fashion-conscious alternative to the dozens of bulky, square smartwatches that characterised the first generation of these devices.
Wearables shipments are expected to jump 158% this year to 75mn, analysts at CCS Insight estimate. By 2018, almost 350mn wearable devices will be worn worldwide. The Huawei Watch is 42 mm in diameter, slightly larger than Motorola’s futuristic rival, the Moto 360.
Pairing the device with a smartphone running Android, users can receive text-message notifications, emails, calendar reminders or incoming phone alerts. It is not, as some analysts had hoped for, a watch which can operate independently from a smartphone, using its own SIM card.
