Huawei’s chief designer, Quentin Tang, talked to the Forbes quite recently. He actually shared some of its thoughts on the Huawei P40, and Apple’s new iPhone SE handset as well. He confirmed that Huawei has no plans to launch an iPhone SE-like smartphone.
Apple launched the iPhone SE quite recently, in the iPhone 8 body. The company included its most powerful processor on the inside, along with some additional improvements.
Huawei won’t launch an iPhone SE-like smartphone
It doesn’t seem like Huawei plans on doing something similar. Mr. Tang said that he doesn’t think people want such a device, a device with a small display, and outdated design.
He believes that consumers want a large display, in a rather compact body. So, minimal bezels are crucial for such a phone. At least that is the case for the vast majority of people in Asia, but he believes the same applies elsewhere as well.
He also added that there are more and more apps that require large displays, as the experience is so much better on such panels. It seems like Huawei is done with truly small devices, at least for now.
The iPhone SE managed to get a lot of attention for several reasons. First of all, it’s quite affordable, which is a rarity for Apple. It starts at $399 in the US, and it has the most powerful processor from Apple.
That alone was enough to attract some consumers. It also offers a better camera experience than the iPhone 8, thanks to its new chip. It does include the same camera setup as the iPhone 8, though.
The phone also comes with more RAM than the iPhone 8, and is overall a more modern phone, in every way except its design. The iPhone SE has really thick bezels above and below the display.
The battery life on the iPhone SE sure is not great
Another sore point for the phone is its battery life. It has a really small battery, and even with the power efficiency of the Apple A13 Bionic, it’s not capable of offering really good battery life. At least based on the reviews thus far.
Huawei doesn’t really have such a small phone in its lineup to rebrand either way, and it seems like the company is completely uninterested in doing so either way.
We can’t really say that it is a mistake. The iPhone SE will be quite popular, but not many companies can pull something like that off and get away with it, nor should they.
Huawei had introduced its P40 series flagships quite recently, and the company is probably already getting ready for the Mate 40 series later this year. Some budget phones will almost certainly arrive in the meantime, though. There you have it, Huawei has no plans to release an iPhone SE-like smartphone, so don’t hold your breath.