Yu might be alluding to a certain kind of satellite connectivity for Huawei’s next flagship devices. Beijing-based Pandaily stated at the end of last month that Huawei has received a patent for a submission titled “Satellite Communication Means and Devices.” According to the patent, Huawei will make use of satellites to lower energy consumption while enhancing the performance of a handset’s communications capabilities.
This next Tuesday, September 6, the Huawei Mate 50 series, the company’s flagship line for 2022, will be unveiled, one day before Apple is anticipated to launch the iPhone 14 series. In a video about the Mate 50 phones, Huawei Consumer Business CEO Yu Chengdong (aka Richard Yu) claimed that the business would release technology that “pierces the sky upwards.” Huawei may one day surpass Apple by introducing satellite connectivity for the Mate 50 series.
Highlights
At the end of last month, Kuo said that Apple had finished testing satellite connectivity for the iPhone 14 line before mass production of the phones started. Kuo stated that “whether iPhone 14 will offer satellite communication service depends on whether Apple and operators can settle the business model.” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said last year that Apple would offer the satellite service to allow iPhone users in an area bereft of cellular service to send emergency texts (which would appear inside gray text bubbles on other iPhones).
Other smartphone-related satellite-based patents have been submitted by the company. Even though all of this data suggests that the Mate 50 line will be satellite-connected, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s assertions may be the most trustworthy. The Mate 50, according to Kuo, would “lead the iPhone” in offering emergency short message services (SMS, also known as text messages), according to satellite communication operated by Beidou System. Kuo is renowned for making accurate predictions regarding the iPhone.
Huawei is expected to introduce four Mate 50 models on Tuesday, September 6th: the Mate 50e (powered by the Snapdragon 778), the Mate 50, Mate 50 Pro, and Mate 50 RS (Porsche Design). The latter three models will have the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G SoC under their hoods.
Huawei is rumored to reveal a new emergency battery mode for the Mate 50 series
Thanks to U.S. restrictions placed on Huawei (which have been documented here ad nauseam) the Chinese manufacturer is not really a threat to Apple in the marketplace like it was just a few years ago. Interestingly, it sounds like both Huawei and Apple have similar plans for how satellite connectivity would be used to send text messages via satellite when no cellular signals are available. The idea is for phone owners to report emergencies that they witness or are involved in.
The new Mate 50 series will have HarmonyOS 3.0 pre-installed and there is speculation about an emergency battery mode that would allow a user to make phone calls and send text messages even after the phone’s battery has died.
Returning to the idea of adding satellite connectivity to smartphones, the ultimate goal would be for satellite firms to provide connectivity to smartphone users allowing them to receive data and make phone calls even in the most desolate areas. It isn’t clear how users would pay for such a service which is why Kuo brought up the “business model” as we mentioned earlier.
The Mate 50 line will also feature a variable aperture lens and Huawei, which no longer has its partnership with Leica, has named its in-house photography system XMAGE. Huawei previously released two flagship models every year with the photography-centered P-series released at the beginning of the year and the technologically advanced Mate 50 line offered at the end of the year. But the restrictions placed on the company, especially in regards to chips, have forced Huawei to launch just one flagship series a year as it alternates between the two models.