Imaging Archives - Counterpoint

India’s Smart Home Security Camera Shipments Up 48% YoY in Q1 2023

More than 75% of the cameras sold in Q1 2023 were below INR3,000, with INR1,500-INR2,000 most popular (28%).
Indian brands now command two-thirds of the Indian smart security camera market.
CP Plus, Xiaomi and EZVIZ ranked first, second and third, respectively, in Q1 2023.
Three of the top five best-selling models were from CP Plus

New Delhi, Beijing, Hong Kong, Boston, Toronto, London, Taipei, Seoul – June 14, 2023

India’s smart home security camera shipments grew 48% YoY in Q1 2023 (January-March), according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Smart Home IoT Service. During the period, there was a strong increase in demand for home surveillance products as offices began reopening for working professionals. In Q1 2023, the average selling price of smart security cameras declined considerably YoY, with the INR1,500-INR 2,000 price range emerging as the most popular.

Commenting on the trend, Research Analyst Varun Gupta said, “Safety and security of homes have become a prime concern for most Indian households, which led to an increase in demand for smart security cameras and strong growth in shipments during the quarter. The industry has integrated AI into the devices to provide capabilities such as intrusion detection and motion detection, making household surroundings more secure. These functions have become more accessible in lower-cost cameras, driving overall demand. The shipment share of the INR1,500-INR2,000 price band jumped to 28% in Q1 2023 from 3% in Q1 2022. A decline in cost of components, especially those of memory and Wi-Fi chipsets, have led to a decline in the overall ASP.”

Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Gupta added, “The market remains consolidated. The top three brands took a combined market share of 67% in Q1 2023, with home-grown company CP Plus taking the top spot. Chinese brands, such as Xiaomi and EZVIZ, faced strong competition in the market due to the growth of existing and emerging players. TP-Link also launched smart cameras via its sub-brand Vigi to offer differentiated products to Small and Medium Businesses. Smart security cameras are becoming more popular among small retailers and enterprises due to their ease of use and minimal cost of ownership.”

Commenting on the overall market, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “Indian brands now command nearly two-thirds of the Indian smart security camera market, with more than 60% of the products being manufactured in India. The market continues to perform well on online platforms and there has been a significant increase in the offline channels as well, with shipments exceeding 40% for the second consecutive quarter in Q1 2023. This indicates steady growth in the offline retail channels.”

Market Summary

CP Plus by Aditya Infotech cemented its leadership position with 3x YoY growth in shipments in Q1 2023, which helped it capture a 45% market share. It launched several cameras in Q1 2023, particularly in 3MP and 4MP sizes. CP Plus was the top domestic manufacturer of smart security cameras with a 71% share. It has focused on making its products more affordable to consumers mostly via the offline retail market.
Xiaomi ranked second with a 12% market share as its shipments fell 29% YoY in Q1 2023 mostly due to higher inventory levels and seasonal decline. Xiaomi’s Home Security Camera 2i was its best-selling model and second-best-selling camera model in the overall market.
EZVIZ by Hikvision ended Q1 2023 at the third spot with a 10% share. Its shipments declined 38% YoY due to the aggressive pricing by competitors. It has focused more on offering made-in-India cameras to consumers with the C6N as the brand’s best-selling model. EZVIZ offers a wide variety of products and primarily focuses on cameras priced at >INR3,000.
Tapo by TP-Link doubled its shipments YoY and captured the fourth spot with a 9% share. Although the brand has mostly focused on online retail channels, its visibility in the offline retail channels has also improved, especially in the large format stores. C210 was the brand’s bestseller in Q1 2023.
Qubo by Hero Electronix grew 19% YoY and climbed to the fifth position with a 5% market share. It has focused on offering affordable indoor cameras, especially in the INR2,000-INR2,500 price band, while also aiming to improve product visibility in the offline retail channels. The Smart Cam 360 indoor camera was the brand’s best-performing model.

Other Emerging Brands

Imou by Dahua Technologies fell 38% YoY mostly due to its lower popularity compared with other brands and poor visibility in the offline retail channels. Its Ranger series of cameras contributed to more than 60% of its total shipments.
Kent grew marginally YoY in Q1 2023. It has focused on offline and online retail channels and has been a trusted water purifier brand for several years. All its cameras are manufactured in India, and we expect Kent to add more cameras to its portfolio this year.
realme took a spot in the top 10 list in Q1 2023. However, it suffered an 18% YoY fall during the quarter, mostly due to a seasonal decline in demand for its cameras.
Airtel has been one of the latest entrants in this space and is the only brand to offer cloud storage as a service. It aims to build on its existing brand presence to penetrate tier-1 and tier-2 cities.
Zebronics grew significantly in Q1 2023 as it aims to offer affordable products to consumers and small retailers.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media, and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts

Varun Gupta

Anshika Jain

Folllow Counterpoint Research

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Smartphone Camera Resolutions Continued to Improve in 2022 Despite Macroeconomic Hurdles

Despite a sharp YoY decline in smartphone shipments, smartphone camera resolutions continued to improve in 2022.
The share of 10MP-12MP increased in 2022 driven by Apple iPhones.
The share of 50MP grew significantly as low- to mid-end phones migrated to sub-0.7μm 50MP and mid-to high-end phones migrated to large pixel 50MP.
The share of 100MP and above resolutions has been growing steadily.

Although smartphone shipments dropped sharply in 2022, OEMs continued upgrading smartphone camera resolutions during the year, according to Counterpoint Smartphone Camera Tracker. This is because imaging remains a key area of focus for smartphone OEMs.

Smartphone Camera Resolution Trend

With the advancement in chipset processing capabilities and software algorithms, smartphone OEMs have been increasingly using existing cameras to achieve depth effects. Macro functions can now also be accomplished through telephoto and ultrawide cameras. Therefore, OEMs have reduced the adoption of depth and macro cameras to instead focus on improving core camera functions. Consequently, the share of 8MP and below resolutions has continued to shrink.

Despite the difficult global economic conditions in 2022, Apple’s iPhone shipments remained robust compared to those of Android phones. This helped increase the market share of 10MP-12MP resolutions during the year. However, the share of 10MP-12MP is set to decline in 2023 as the iPhone 14 Pro models jump to 48MP.

13MP-32MP resolutions declined sharply in recent years as higher resolutions penetrate the mid- to low-end market through price cuts.

The share of 40MP-48MP resolutions declined in 2022 as more mid- to low-end models continued upgrading to sub-0.7μm 50MP. However, this trend is expected to reverse in 2023 driven by the Apple iPhone migration.

50MP has been a massive hit since its launch in 2020. Smartphone OEMs prefer to use large pixel (1.0μm and above) 50MP for their mid- to high-end smartphones as it can enable high-quality and high-resolution images. Meanwhile, the cost effective sub-0.7μm 50MP resolutions are more popular among the low- to mid-end models. For 2022, the sales volume of 50MP is expected to exceed 260 million units.

In the 60MP and above category, the share of 64MP declined as mid- to high-end smartphones migrated to large pixel 50MP. The share of 100MP and above resolutions has been growing steadily since launch. However, due to the high price, this resolution is still limited to the mid- and high-end segments.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Alicia Gong

Ethan Qi

Smartphone Cameras Continue Steep Advances as Software Drives Innovation In New Directions

Boston, Toronto, London, New Delhi, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – June 8, 2022

Counterpoint Research hosts webinar around innovation in smartphone imaging systems.
Guests HONOR, DXOMARK, Qualcomm and director/photographer Eugenio Recuenco discussed topics including the best smartphone camera features and the evolution of imaging.
Key themes: Smartphone camera trends, OEM imaging comparisons, measuring quality and capturing life’s magic moments.
Watch the full webinar here or download the accompanying Whitepaper.

Counterpoint Research hosted a webinar today entitled Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments which included speakers from leading smartphone manufacturer HONOR, scientific testing firm DXOMARK, semiconductor company Qualcomm and renowned director and photographer Eugenio Recuenco.

Key themes covered during the event included trends around smartphone camera hardware and the increasing influence of software on innovation, how quality is measured, and the most important elements of user experience.

Imaging systems have always been measured by hardware specifications, which continue to be a foundation for innovation. However, at the upper end of the market, flagship camera counts are flattening, lens focal lengths are being stretched, and image processing demands are pushing chipset makers to keep pace with Moore’s Law.

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Unit Sales by Rear Camera Module Count

Source: Counterpoint Research Quarterly Smartphone Sales Tracker, March 2022.

Of all smartphone specs, camera counts have reached the most obvious plateau, with average number of cameras per smartphone hovering just below three for over a year. Nevertheless, leading vendors like HONOR are employing increasingly sophisticated computational photography techniques to keep up the rapid pace of advancement.

“Megapixels and camera counts are important to a degree, but it’s not just about hardware specs when we talk about and compare camera systems. What happens behind the scenes is just as, if not more, important than what is listed on a smartphone’s spec sheet,” states Jan Stryak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research.

This is due to the increasing importance of software, which brings to the fore advanced technologies like multi-frame and multi-camera fusion techniques. Dr. Hou Weilong, Technical Expert for HONOR Imaging, muses, “there is a lot of science behind our cameras, but our objective is to remove as much complexity as possible so that our users can simply take great pictures.”

The pivot to software and algorithmic photography means processing power is paramount for smartphone camera performance to deliver “extreme image signal and neural processing, creating challenges on the chipset side,” says Judd Heape, Vice President for Product Management at Qualcomm. “We see it as a tremendous opportunity to work with our OEM partners to help deliver amazing imaging experiences.”

And this is more than just enabling the perfect shot. “A good smartphone camera makes taking great pictures easy by understanding intention and providing ‘all-in-one’ in the default mode,” observes Herve Macudzinski, Director for Image Science at DXOMARK. ”Multi-camera fusion computational photography is the bleeding edge technology helping to make that happen, and HONOR does it most elegantly with the Magic4 Ultimate.”

As a testament to how far today’s smartphone cameras have come, photographer and film director Eugenio Recuenco recently shot the short film Kaleidoscope with the HONOR Magic4 Pro, stating, “it thrilled me to see how the technology of today is giving us more methods and possibilities to create and express.”

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Contacts and inquiries:

press@counterpointresearch.com

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White Paper: Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments

Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments

WHITE PAPER

PDF | 15 pages
Published date: June 2022

Overview

The camera has always been a major component of the smartphone and a key selling point among consumers. In the past, smartphone cameras lagged far behind even the most basic DSLRs as form factor and size constraints impacted picture and video quality. But technology has now advanced to the point where today’s top flagship devices are capable of delivering DSLR-like performance.

The rise of AI algorithms, advancements in multi-frame/multi-lens computational photography, more powerful processors, the addition of dedicated image signal and neural processing units and, of course, the compounding of R&D experience has resulted in today’s smartphone cameras rivalling dedicated imaging devices.

In fact, the smartphone’s comparatively compact form factor is an advantage, as clicking pictures and recording videos are becoming integrated into our daily lives through the growth of social media. The role of the camera has shifted to become a life tool, as end-users migrate from being simply consumers of content to creators.

This new direction that imaging has taken warrants further advancements in smartphone cameras, as we lean on technology to make the experience easier while allowing all of us to be more creative.

Table of Content

Introduction
Smartphone Imaging Trends
- Megapixels: More is not necessarily better
- Multi-camera modules: Covering all scenarios
- Image processing: Pushing the laws of physics
OEM Imaging Comparisons
- As hardware slows, innovation grows
- Where the magic happens
- New magic, new directions
Measuring Quality
- Components of an exceptional smartphone camera
- Image processing innovation
- DXOMARK Readout
Capturing Magic Moments
- Powering art through technology
Conclusion

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Infographic: Mobile Market Monitor
(Q1 and Q2 2023)
Global Smartphone Shipments Market Data
(Q3 2021 – Q2 2023)
China Smartphone Shipments Market Data
(Q1 2022 – Q2 2023)
US Smartphone Shipments Market Data
(Q1 2022 – Q2 2023)
India Smartphone Shipments Market Data
(Q1 2022 – Q2 2023)

CONTRIBUTORS

John Doe

Designer

John Doe

Designer

John Doe

Designer

John Doe

Designer

John Doe

Designer

John Doe

Designer

Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments

Over the last few years, steady upgrades in CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology combined with the evolution of chipsets – and the improvements in AI they enable – are bringing step-change improvements to smartphone camera performance.

Counterpoint Research would like to invite you to join our latest webinar Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments which will be attended by key executives from HONOR, Qualcomm, and DXOMARK as well as a renowned professional photographer and director Eugenio Recuenco.

The webinar is a complement to an upcoming Counterpoint Whitepaper (also to be released on June 8) which will cover smartphone imaging trends, OEM strategy comparisons, the key components of a great camera and show how technology is helping to unlock creative expression.

RSVP today via the link below to secure your spot at this event. A media Q&A session is scheduled for after the panel discussion. Please feel free to submit your questions to press@counterpointresearch.com in advance.

Host and speakers:

Peter

Richardson

Vice President,

Research

Dr. Weilong

Hou

Technical Expert,

Imaging

Judd

Heape

Vice President,

Product Management

Herve

Macudzinski

Director

Image Science

Eugenio

Recuenco

Photographer and

Film Director

Cannes Lions Award 2006 and 2013

Qualcomm Brings Advanced AI, Gaming and Imaging Prowess to Snapdragon 6 & 7 Series Platforms

Growth in the global smartphone market declined annually for the first time ever in 2018. This was primarily due to the lengthening replacement cycles in key geographies such as the US, China, and parts of Europe. At the same time, there is also a gradual shift among entry-level (sub-US$100) smartphone users towards mid-tier (US$100-US$250) and high-tier (US$250-US$400) smartphones in 2018. In fact, more than half of the total smartphones sold across the world in 2018 came from the mid-tier and the high-tier price bands.

There are several reasons for this shift. A key reason is the maturing global smartphone user base. Many of them are buying their second or third smartphone. Aspirations are also increasing. Not everyone can afford a premium-tier flagship device but most smartphone users in mid-to-high-tier segments are demanding better specs, features, and performance. As a result, the feature sets and product quality offered by the upstart smartphone vendors such as Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, Huawei, Asus, Realme, and others are attracting entry-tier and mid-tier smartphone users to purchase their next phones in the US$100-US$400 price segment. Some of the most in-demand features in this price segment are as follows: –

Artificial Intelligence – On-Device AI for advanced imaging, computing, AR translation, scene detection, low-light enhancements, portrait modes, and more.
Imaging – Multiple and varied camera sensors from telephoto zoom to higher resolutions to ultra-wide support, hybrid auto-focus, and more.
Gaming – Optimizations for stunning realistic graphics rendering, faster frame rates, and immersive audio support to enhance the gaming experience.
Power – Advanced CPU optimization for efficient power consumption and better battery life, quick charging, and other such features.
Connectivity – Advanced LTE (600Mbps+ throughputs), WiFi (802.11ac), Bluetooth connectivity with optimized RF performance for better signal performance.

All these advanced features and technologies have trickled down to mid-to-high-tier segments because of chipset vendors like Qualcomm, Samsung, HiSilicon, and MediaTek. In this regard, Qualcomm has been ahead of the competition and has been swiftly able to democratize cutting edge features. It has helped upstart brands to compete with vertically integrated players such as Samsung and Huawei.

Qualcomm’s 4, 6 and 7 series platforms of System of Chipsets (SoCs) have driven this trend in these key price segments bringing innovations to masses. Together, these series powered more than 41% of smartphones in this segment (US$100-US$400) in 2018 according to our latest Global Soc Model Sales Tracker research.

Exhibit 1: Smartphone SoC Family Sales Share by Price Bands in 2018

Building on the success of 6 and 7 series, Qualcomm today announced new SoCs Snapdragon 665 and Snapdragon 730/730G for smartphones. Here’s a closer look at what these new SoCs have to offer: –

Qualcomm Snapdragon 665

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 is the latest generation 6 series SoC platform. It builds upon the 14nm based Snapdragon 660, which was launched 23 months ago. However, the 665 is significantly better than the 660.
The major upgrades are advanced AI, optimized gaming, and cutting-edge imaging capabilities. It brings in near-premium experiences for someone buying a first or second smartphone.
For the first time, Qualcomm brings its third-generation AI engine (AIE) to the affordable 6 series platforms.

Exhibit 2: Snapdragon 665 – 3^rd Gen AI Engine

It incorporates the powerful heterogeneous computing-based AI engine leveraging the latest Qualcomm Hexagon 686 DSP, Adreno 610 GPU and 11nm based Kyro 260 CPU
The Snapdragon 665 AIE promises 2x faster AI processing and 2x Hexagon Vector eXtensions compared to the Snapdragon 660 (14nm)
The AIE also unlocks newer AI driven capabilities such as 3D Face Unlock, object detection, single camera portrait mode and relighting, scene recognition, augmented reality-based text translation, and more.

Exhibit 3: Snapdragon 665 – Premium Imaging Experiences

The improved AI-powered Qualcomm Spectra 165 ISP also supports a triple camera configuration (telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide), 48 MP sensor, 4K video capture, Portrait Mode and HDR stills, Hybrid Autofocus, 5x Optical Zoom, Zero Shutter Lag, and a multitude of camera-centric features.
Gaming has been a key use-case followed by camera and communication. The Snapdragon 665 offers an enhanced gaming performance and is the first 6 series SoC to support Vulkan 1.1 graphics driver for smooth and realistic graphics as well as faster frame rates, all powered by the Adreno 610 visual processing sub-system.
However, the Snapdragon 665 continues to offer the same connectivity options in the form of LTE-Advanced (Cat 12 – 600Mbps 3x20MHz CA DL/ Cat 13 – 150 Mbps 2x20MHz CA) as the Snapdragon 660 targeting emerging markets.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 730/730G

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 platform is the latest generation of the 7 series SoC platform and it builds upon the 10nm based Snapdragon 710 which was launched 11 months ago.
Snapdragon 7 series is a new tier which is filling up a huge gap left between Snapdragon 6 and 8 series SoCs. The flagship 8 series-based devices will continue to be more expensive with the addition of technologies such as 5G and new form-factors such as the dual or foldable displays.

Exhibit 4: Snapdragon 730 – Major Upgrade from Imaging to AI to CPU

Snapdragon 730 is a significant upgrade compared to Snapdragon 710 and cements its position nicely in the high-to-premium tier.
Qualcomm has integrated its fourth generation AI Engine (AIE) into the 730, in tow with the first ever Hexagon Tensor Accelerator (HTA) (INT16, INT8, Mixed) for 7 series. It also has more floating point ALUs as well as dot product instructions support. This provides powerful AI experiences for the camera, gaming, and performance.
The AIE incorporates Qualcomm Hexagon 688 DSP, Adreno 618 GPU, and a highly efficient advanced 8nm based Kyro 470 CPU promising 2x faster AI processing than its predecessor.
The Snapdragon 730 sports AI + voice engine to enhance voice recognition accuracy and pick up even voices from far or even in a noisy environment.
It has the first Computer Vision based Image Signal Processor (CV-ISP) for 7 series. This was earlier featured in the 8 series platform.
The Spectra 350 features the CV-ISP, which supports advanced imaging features such as 4K HDR video in Portrait Mode allowing depth sensing at 60fps, Object Segmentation, Cinemagraph video, HD slo-mo videos @ 960fps, and almost 4x power savings.
The SoC also supports the new generation HEIF compression format which saves photo, video and CV data in almost half the size.

Exhibit 5: Snapdragon 730 – Premium Imaging Experiences

Qualcomm also announced for the first time a 7 series chipset variant, called 730G, specially designed for OEMs looking to target advanced smartphone gamers. It allows for a more powerful but affordable gaming smartphone.
With Snapdragon 730G, Qualcomm enhances the gaming experience for a 7 series phone in a couple of ways –
- The 8nm Kyro 470 drives extreme power efficiency by balancing workload across to performance and six efficiency cores for demanding gameplay, promising a 35% power saving compared to Snapdragon 710.
- The Adreno 618 GPU visual sub-system is powered with some of the “Elite Gaming” features trickling down from the Snapdragon 855 such as true HDR10 gaming, 25% faster graphics rendering, Wi-Fi latency manager, Jank reducer, anti-cheat extensions, and other gaming related optimizations.
- The sub-system also supports 4K HDR10 PQ and HLG Video Playback (10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut)
In addition to the powerful graphics and AI engine, the Snapdragon 730/30G sports an X15 LTE-Advanced (Cat 15 – 800Mbps 3x20MHz CA DL/ Cat 13 – 150 Mbps 2x20MHz CA) modem with 4×4 MIMO and up to 256-QAM
Snapdragon 730 is also the first non-8 series platform to integrate Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Qualcomm has some great 6 and 7 series announcements which should help it maintain a wider lead in the sizeable mid-to high-tier market. The 6 series portfolio now spans from a cheaper Snapdragon 625 to 665 and the 675 offering multiple options for different OEMs to design and differentiate. The 7 series currently contributes a smaller volume. But with Snapdragon 730/730G, we should see more design wins in the US$300-US$500 wholesale price segment phones. As the premium Android flagship market median has shifted beyond the US$600 wholesale price, the 7 series is a great solution for this year’s affordable premium Android smartphones. Qualcomm’s focus on three core use-cases imaging, gaming, and AI should pay off as a sizeable maturing smartphone user base looking to upgrade and enjoy these enhanced experiences.

MWC Day 0 : Part 1 :: Welcome to the Advanced Imaging, 5G & Foldable Future

The Counterpoint team is on ground in sunny yet chilly Barcelona covering the latest and greatest innovations from the mobile industry. The Mobile World Congress begins on Monday but the companies began their activities from Saturday. The key press announcements over the pre-MWC opening weekend came from OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei, Nokia-HMD, LG, Microsoft and TCL-Alcatel

Most of the announcements/launches were around flagship devices circling around three main themes — 5G, foldable form-factor, and cameras/imaging.

OPPO

OPPO had a special “OPPO Innovation Event” showcasing its worth in two areas Camera and 5G. OPPO unveiled the world’s first smartphone with “10x lossless optical zoom” to be launched in Q2 2019. OPPO is using a special three camera sensor setup which smartly switches between the ultra-wide sensor to 48MP mid-range to a specially crafted telephoto sensor and lens array to deliver a 10x lossless zoom. The secret sauce is in the algorithms and the special design of the telephoto lens which sports a periscope design with a prism to enable multiple factor zoom.

OPPO with this camera technology aims to build some unique differentiation in the tougher premium space to compete with likes of Apple, Huawei, Samsung, and Google. Camera is the key focus area for flagship phones, the relative contribution of the camera to the overall Bill of Materials has gone up from 5% a few years ago to 13% in 2018.

Another area OPPO is looking to continue to innovate along with the camera and AI is 5G. OPPO announced a US$1.5 billion R&D investment and aims to launch its first 5G handset in early H2 2019. OPPO actually commenced its 5G research in 2015 and since then had more than 2,000 technical submissions to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). OPPO now has six research divisions and four R&D centers to drive this investment.

Huawei – Industry Leading Design & Impeccable Time To Market

Huawei launched a refreshed Matebook X Pro PC, but the real excitement was for the Mate X – its 5G folding smartphone that, in one hit, eclipsed all rivals. Its so-called falcon wing hinge is a work of mechanical genius. Huawei’s overall design seems well-thought out. However, we are yet to be convinced about both the hinge and the screen’s long-term durability. We are also still to be convinced that the use case for a folding phone is strong enough to offset the inevitable compromises.

One of the main compromises is the UI in folding devices – not just Huawei’s. Android has not been optimized for folding devices and this was evident from the on-stage demo from Richard Yu, who had to do more juggling than is usually the case with new phone launches.

But of the folding devices so far announced, Huawei has set the highest bar not just in its design and engineering but also with its price. At US$2,299 it is even more expensive than Samsung’s already loftily-priced (US$1,980) Samsung Galaxy Fold – though the Samsung device is not, initially, 5G and Huawei has included a higher memory configuration (8GB/512GB) with a better design.

For foldable phones, as a first step, it is all about designing the hinge. Huawei has assembled more than 100 components to design the foldable hinge called “Falcon Wing” allowing a stretchable and thinner design. This design approach allows a 360-degree rotation, enabling full back-to-back fold unlike what we have seen in other designs from Samsung or Royole.

The side bar design also is cleverly designed for a nice grip while holding it in open 8″ mode and it also houses the 5G sub-6 GHz antenna. The massive 4500 mAh battery is distributed discretely into each of the sides of the two display.

In addition to the Mate X, Huawei also announced an updated and much neater 5G CPE device – with both indoor and outdoor variants. And a 5G MiFi type device. We fully expect that the forthcoming P30 series will include at least one 5G variant.

Huawei’s PCs – Purposeful Products

As with its smartphones, Huawei looks closely at competitors and then iterates its products while focusing on a number of key performance factors. This results in products that are extremely competitive on most performance metrics that consumers care about: battery life and charging speed, screen size and aspect ratio, computing and graphics power. It goes a few steps further though with the use of a compact charging apparatus that makes the typical bricks that accompany most PCs look ridiculously cumbersome.

New for the Matebook and Matebook X Pro is a feature called One Hop that takes advantage of the growing capability of Huawei’s EMUI software. Huawei Share One Hop allows content such as photos, videos, clipboard taken with Huawei smartphones to be rapidly and seamlessly shared with the PC and vice versa. This also applies to documents. While a useful feature, it only works between Huawei PCs and smartphones with EMUI version 9.1 – likely to arrive with the P30 Pro in a few weeks. This seamless hand-off of content seamlessly across devices reduces a huge pain-point for mobile workers and power users and can increase stickiness for users to use multiple Huawei products similar to synergies between Apple MacBook and iPhones.

And while Huawei’s PCs are good, they still don’t support native cellular connectivity; something that should be a distinctive advantage for Huawei. While it’s true to say that relatively few people choose and use cellular capable PCs, Huawei could have offered it as an option. With the advent of 5G just around the corner, it makes even more sense to provide connectivity that isn’t reliant on, often insecure, public WiFi hotspots.

HMD – Nokia 9 Pureview Steals the Show

HMD launched a slew of new devices covering an array of price points from US$35 to US$699.

At the lower end, the new Nokia 210 offers an excellent 2.5G feature phone experience based on its S30+ UI. The device includes a version of the Opera-mini browser and support for a few apps including Facebook. At US$35 it is not the cheapest feature phone but should be among the best at that price point – key for many emerging markets.

The Nokia One Plus – at US$99 – hits a key price point for entry smartphones. The design is slick and the operation, based on Android Pie Go edition, is smooth.

The Nokia 3.2 and 4.2, the first ‘four’ series device from Nokia HMD, land in the key US$130 – US$200 price band. Solid if unspectacular designs, but with the unique promise of two years major Android platform updates and monthly security updates. This applies to all of Nokia HMDs Android-based smartphones and is, we think, an under-communicated benefit given that the vast majority of Android smartphones never receive platform updates throughout their life.

The real show-stopper for Nokia HMD is the Nokia 9 Pureview. This has been widely leaked, but what hasn’t been leaked is the quality of the images the device can generate. It has five image sensors (two RGB and three mono) controlled by an image co-processor developed in conjunction with camera-make Light. The multiple sensors allow unsurpassed depth sensing and detail resolution. The creative possibilities are enhanced by being able to shoot in RAW format and edit using a version of Adobe Lightroom that’s included with the Nokia 9 Pureview. The product design is strong and the price competitive at US$699. Given the recent propensity of some Chinese rivals to move into the pricing headroom created by Apple, HMD has been wise not to follow suit. This is especially the case because Xiaomi is the one Chinese player that is racing down the price curve and making waves in Europe as a result.

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Coverage: Imaging