China's Huawei on Monday unveiled a new line of smartphones that match or even improve on key features offered by Apple or Samsung while undercutting their rivals on price.
Huawei aims to distinguish itself through technological advances that will put it on a level playing field with the most coveted premium-priced devices, helping to boost profitability that has been undermined by heavy discounting in the chase for market share.
Monday's product launch in Munich introduced Huawei's new Mate 10 series, touting high-end cameras, screens and batteries but at prices 15 to 30 per cent below more or less comparable Apple and Samsung smartphones.
Huawei was the world’s third-largest smartphone maker by shipments last year, temporarily overtaking Apple as as the second-largest in June as consumers awaited the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X line-up, data from Counterpoint Research show.
With Apple's latest models now on the market, Huawei has weighed in with the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, featuring, respectively, 5.9-inch and 6-inch edge-to-edge displays, as well as fast-charging batteries that sustain two days of heavy use.
"The Mate 10 line ticks all the boxes in terms of screen size, high-quality camera, powerful processor and slick design - competing with rival products from Samsung and to some extent, Apple," said the CCS Insight mobile analyst Ben Wood.
Perhaps the most distinctive features of the Mate 10 series is its image recognition capability - an artificial intelligence feature that can tell the difference between people, flowers or other objects in different light or weather conditions. The Mate 10 also boasts cameras with high-grade Leica f1.6 aperture lenses.
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"We have the ability to start helping the novice become a professional-grade photographer," said Peter Gauden, a senior Huawei product marketing manager. "[It] is not only a smartphone, it is an intelligent machine."
In March Huawei vowed to focus on profit margins and reduce spending this year after posting its slowest profit growth in five years in 2016.
Although it has become more focused on mid-tier and premium phones and reduced its appetite for market share at any cost, it still has a long way to go.
Apple captures nearly two thirds of the smartphone industry's profits and Samsung accounts for almost a quarter while Huawei and Chinese rivals operate on meagre margins of about 4 per cent, Counterpoint Research estimates.
Those modest margins put a cap on how far Huawei can go with further discounting.
China’s largest smartphone maker is looking to sustain its momentum in international markets such as Europe while also differentiating itself from fast-growing domestic rivals through technical advances.
"Today our product is getting better and better, but the challenge for us is our branding," said the Huawei consumer business group chief Richard Yu. "Our brand, many people don’t know that, they don’t know Huawei."
Huawei's European growth exceeded 50 per cent in the first half of 2017, outpacing other regions, Mr Yu said, adding that European sales had helped to compensate for sluggish growth in emerging markets.
The Mate 10, priced at €699 (Dh3,031), will go on sale in 15 countries this month, ranging from Spain to the Arabian Gulf, Australia and South East Asia, Huawei said.
The slightly more feature-rich Mate 10 Pro will be priced at €799 and start to ship in mid-November to 20-plus countries, including Germany, France, Italy, as well as Asian and Middle East nations. The company also said it will offer a luxury Porsche Design edition at €1,395.
Samsung's comparable top-of-the-line phone, the Galaxy Note 8, is priced at €999 in Germany. Apple's smaller-screened iPhone 8 starts at €799 while the iPhone 8 Plus is €909 and the iPhone X starts at €1,149 euros on the company's German website.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Alan%20Wake%20Remastered%20
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Lecce v SPAL (6pm)
Bologna v Genoa (9pm)
Atlanta v Roma (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Hellas Verona (3.30pm)
Juventus v Brescia (6pm)
Sampdoria v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sassuolo v Parma (6pm)
Cagliari v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Torino (11.45pm)
RACE CARD
6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200
7.05pm Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
7.40pm Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 1,400m
9.25pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 2,000m
The National selections:
6.30pm Underwriter
7.05pm Rayig
7.40pm Torno Subito
8.15pm Talento Puma
8.50pm Etisalat
9.25pm Gundogdu
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour