Huawei TVs are apparently close to release after a Chinese news outlet reported an unnamed “Huawei TV supply chain executive” confirming the company is planning on unveiling its first TVs in April.
Although this will see Huawei expanding into a new product area, the suggestion is the company has high expectations of success as it is currently targeting ten million units sold annually. For a company yet to establish itself in this sector, that’s a big ask and if achieved will only further add to the ‘rise of Huawei’ narrative.
The same unnamed source has also apparently confirmed the TVs won’t be just a TVs, but more of a hub due to the products arriving with a focus on gaming and social features. This in addition to the inclusion of dual cameras.
The last point is an interesting one as it remains to be seen how receptive consumers will be to TVs equipped with cameras. On the one side, this offers up additional ways to broadcast yourself and is likely to be highly beneficial for video chatting with family and friends.
On the other hand, privacy has become an increasingly important and promoted quality and products that are suddenly having cameras attached to them are coming under greater scrutiny from consumers. For example, Facebook has received a fair amount of criticism for its camera-touting smart displays, and the company is also rumored to be working on its own TV equipped with cameras.
Of course, Facebook has been at the center of many privacy-related scandals and debates recently which does add to the heightened level of skepticism, but so has Huawei.
More widely speaking, Huawei’s move into the TV space seems to only further highlight what is clearly now becoming a trend with many non-traditional TV makers now looking to make gains in the TV world. Besides the old guard of makers, and of course Huawei and Facebook, OnePlus is also keen on a move to the TV market.
One of the likely reasons for this newfound interest in the home TV market by these companies is the growing importance of the TV in general. Not only is it now a display for video content, but these units are becoming increasingly more competent as central command units for the entire home.
This is in part due to the expansion of the TV’s interface over the last couple of years and the ability for that interface to be a greater ecosystem in its own right. Facebook, Huawei, and OnePlus are all very much interested in software ecosystems and the services related to them, so this only acts as further motivation for these companies to branch off in this way.
According to the latest information, when Huawei does unveil its new TVs, the lineup will be limited to begin with – only 55 and 65-inch options are set to be announced.
The two sizes are understood to be drawing on different producers for the display, BOE and Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics, respectively.
Towards the end of 2018, Huawei was spotted looking to protect the “Huawei AI Window” name. A name that at the time appeared to be related to to the smart TV sector. Leading to the suggesting this might be what the company’s TV products arrive branded as.