China’s Huawei launches Mate 60 Pro+ smartphone for presale

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies on Friday started presales for its Mate 60 Pro+ smartphone, adding a new version to a series that has captured global attention for revealing the Chinese tech firm’s success in beating back against U.S. sanctions.

With no prior advertising, as it did for the launch of the Mate 60 Pro smartphone last week, the company announced on its official online store that it would start taking orders for the phone from 10:08 a.m. (0208 GMT) with delivery by Oct. 9.

Specifications the company provided for the phone touted its capability to link-up to two satellites concurrently and larger internal storage versus the Mate 60 Pro. It did not release its price.

Speed tests shared by buyers on Chinese social media have suggested that the Mate 60 Pro is capable of download speeds exceeding those of top-line 5G phones.

A tear-down analysis firm TechInsights has also found that the phone is powered by a new Kirin 9000s chip that was made in China by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

The discovery is seen as a breakthrough for Huawei, whose access to chipmaking tools essential for producing the most advanced handset models has been restricted since 2019 by the U.S. This previously left the company only able to launch limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.

The company on Friday also launched the Huawei Mate X5, a new version of its foldable phone series.