Huawei to bring own-branded handsets to market

Chinese hardware manufacturer Huawei is following in the footsteps of its compatriot, ZTE, and tearing the white label off its handsets. At least two own-branded devices, both running the Android operating system, look set to hit markets as early as September.

The Blaze will come in at the lower end of the market, retailing for around £100, and will feature Android Gingerbread 2.3, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 3.2MP camera, 256MB of RAM and 512MB of onboard storage.

The other device, the Vision, looks like it will be targeted at the higher end of the market, featuring Gingerbread, a 1GHz processor, 5 MP camera, wifi and a 3D interface ‘skin’ which will sit on top of the Android OS.

In July, rival firm ZTE held a press conference in London to announce a UK version of its website and its intention to step out of the shadows and push its own brand. Through a deal with local distribution channel Brightpoint, ZTE will have its own-label handsets on UK shelves later this year.

On Monday, Huawei said its sales revenue in the first half of 2011 grew 11 per cent year on year to RMB98.3bn ($15.38bn), while operating profit hit RMB12.4bn. Shipments of its devices rose 40 per cent year on year to 72 million units.