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Huawei unveils Mate 50 phone that links with China's own GPS system
Satellite feature aims to get around U.S. 5G curbs and outshine Apple


Huawei's Mate 50 smartphone line will allow users to send messages using China's BeiDou satellite system. (Photo from screenshot of Huawei launch event)
CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei Asia chief tech correspondentSeptember 6, 2022 15:51 JSTUpdated on September 6, 2022 17:24 JST

TAIPEI -- Huawei Technologies has included satellite communications capabilities in its latest flagship smartphone as the Chinese tech conglomerate attempts to get around U.S. restrictions on its access to 5G wireless technologies.

The Mate 50 series will allow users to send short messages and map out routes using the BeiDou navigation satellite system, the Chinese version of the more widely used Global Positioning System developed by the U.S. Air Force.

Huawei is the first major smartphone maker to roll out such a feature, beating out market leaders like Apple, which is also working on satellite connectivity.

The BeiDou network achieved worldwide coverage in 2020, a major milestone in Beijing's efforts to create its own system for future communications, navigation and scientific research that does not rely on GPS or other global navigation systems, which include Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo and the IRNSS program developed by India.

"It will be the world's first smartphone to support message links with the BeiDou navigation satellite network. We are set to open a new commercial era of the mass use of such satellite technologies," said Richard Yu, Huawei's executive director and CEO of its consumer business group.

Huawei, which has been operating under a U.S. crackdown since 2018, still has no access to the type of premium 5G mobile chips that are already standard in flagship phones from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi. Its smartphone shipments declined to just 37.5 million units for all of 2021, from 240.6 million in 2019, when it was the world's second-largest handset maker, after Samsung, according to IDC data.



The Chinese tech champion was forced to sell its budget phone line Honor in late 2020. The former unit has been betting big on global expansion, recently launching a series of smartphones, tablets and laptop computers during the IFA Berlin electronics fair. Honor also pledged to bring its premium foldable phone to Europe by early 2023.

Satellite communications have a long history in military and disaster management applications, as they can operate in remote areas such as deserts, jungles and open oceans that lack conventional communication or location services.

Wireless mobile internet, by comparison, relies on nearby base stations for data transfers and phone calls.

Huawei's latest phone will come with Qualcomm's 4G version of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile chipset.

Instead of Google's Android operating system, which the company can no longer use due to U.S. restrictions, the Mate 50 will come with Huawei's own Harmony OS. The company has also developed its own cutting-edge materials to a more shatter-proof glass cover make the glass cover of the phones more drop- and-crash resistant. Dubbed "Kunlun glass, Huawei developed the material an alterative to Corning's Gorilla glass.

Huawei's Yu said the Mate 50 models also have more advanced cameras and are equipped with smart text-to-voice features that allow users to answer phone calls by typing, as well as with instant interpretation functions.

Jeff Pu, an analyst with Haitong International Securities, said Huawei used a chip from developer CETC Acoustic-Optic-Electronic Technology to support satellite communications features. He said Huawei's move could open a new frontier in the commercial use of such technologies in electronics devices.

"Currently, only Chinese chip developers are allowed to design chips that link to China's BeiDou. It's a business unique to Chinese companies," Pu said. But Huawei's breakthrough does not necessarily mean that users will be sending messages or making calls via satellite all the time, he added. "That could consume a lot of battery power and could be very expensive."

Joey Yen, an analyst with IDC, told Nikkei Asia that Huawei has potentially opened up a new front in the global war for tech dominance. "The tech battleground has further advanced from 5G and AI to space and navigation satellite technologies."

I have a Huawei with Android that I bought in 2016 in Kampot market. Still working well.


Instead of Google's Android operating system, which the company can no longer use due to U.S. restrictions, the Mate 50 will come with Huawei's own Harmony OS.