Bangkok - After the successful launch of Huawei P8 in London in April, Huawei Consumer Business Group keeps the momentum going by introducing P8 and wearable devices to the Southeast Asian market. The event, titled “Southeast Asia P8 & Wearable Launch”, which took place recently in Bangkok, where Huawei’s regional office is located. With over 500 guests from 11 countries, invited to discover the technology and power behind Huawei’s latest smartphone and wearable products. The launch saw the presence of Mr. Henry Liu - Country Head – Huawei Device Sri Lanka, Mr. Asoka Pieris - Group CEO - Singer Sri Lanka PLC, Mr. Mahesh Wijewardene - Director Marketing and Commercial - Singer Sri Lanka PLC, Mr. Stanley Mascarenhas - Marketing Manager Huawei Sri Lanka and Mr. Sahan Perera – Brand Manager for Huawei Singer Sri Lanka PLC.

P8 – where science meets aesthetic beauty

The star product of the launch is the Huawei P8 smartphone, a perfect blend of technology, sleek styling, usability and revolutionary low light camera features. The Huawei P8 is the culmination of the rich heritage of the P Series, which was introduced in 2012, focusing on style and functionality. More than a smartphone, the P8 strikes a perfect balance between beauty, minimalist aesthetics and usability.

P8’s design inspiration comes from the ancient tradition of libraries and hardcover books.  Sleek, simple and elegant, it features a flat front and back design, ultra-narrow beze. Superior craftsmanship means that the LCD screen, one of the largest ratio of screen to body in the industry - taking up 78.3% of the surface.

The phone is 6.4mm thin, with dual SIM cards, and works seamlessly with a 4G network (where the service is available). Despite its advanced functionality, P8 is also one of the most user-friendly Android 4G smartphones with easy-to-use innovative features. The body is slimmer with a longer standby time than ever before, with 2600mAh battery and Kirin 930 64-bit Octa-Core chipset.   

Introducing a new philosophy for camera design, P8 camera is optimized for low light and high contrast. It is the best light painting camera smartphone available in the market today, offering DSLR-level independent image processor. Director Mode is the industry's first professional-level video capture function, which allows the P8 user to direct and control up to three other Android phones when shooting a video scene from four angles simultaneously, and also to instant video clip editing.

"The goal of Huawei P8 is to become the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally" said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, "Through in-depth market research, Huawei has addressed the most pressing pain points for premium smartphone users today. Huawei seamlessly combines the best elements of style and durability in this device, delivering a revolutionary user experience – especially in terms of camera capabilities and network connectivity. Building on the outstanding market performance of Huawei’s P series, we fully believe the Huawei P8 will become one of the most popular smartphones of 2015."

High potential in Southeast Asia

Kelvin Ho, President of Handset Product line Huawei Consumer BG, said that Southeast Asia is one of the key markets for Huawei, and the company is very optimistic about the potential of this region, which is why Huawei is hosting the Southeast Asia launch event right after the global launch last month.

“Southeast Asia is one of the most promising and high-potential economic entities in the world, both now and in the future. It is regarded as a strategic market and an engine driving fast growth of Huawei Consumer Business. In 2014, Huawei saw over 10 million total shipments in this region, and the shipments of our smartphones reached 3 million units. With the launch of P8, P8Max, and P8Lite this year, we expect the total shipments to reach 8 million units, a 160% increase,” said Mr Ho.

The company saw substantial growth in regional shipments in the region. Shared by Thomas Liu, President of Huawei Consumer Business Group Southeast Asia: “From our recent report can tell, 2015Q1 smartphone shipment in the Southeast Asia achieved 120% increase compared to last year.”On the list of top 5 countries in terms of Huawei's brand awareness is Myanmar, where brand awareness was recorded at 100%, and was the No.1 player with over 50% market share.

To tap into the opportunities in Southeast Asia, up to 1,500 customer service centres will be opened throughout this region. In the near future, Huawei will release a customer service mobile application and Offer Mail in Service (MIS) in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar, India and Thailand. Also on in the pipeline is the plan for VIP service for high-end products.