(Yicai Global) July 30 -- Huawei Technologies unveiled its latest flagship smartphone series yesterday. The new handsets are the Chinese telecoms giant’s first to run on its own HarmonyOS operating system, but do not support fifth-generation mobile telephony.

US sanctions over the past two years have stymied the firm’s ability to develop 5G phones, Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, said at the virtual launch event.

Huawei’s phone development and sales have suffered since the administration of former US President Donald Trump restricted its access to American chip technologies. Huawei even went as far as selling off its successful Honor budget brand last November to guarantee its future.

The Shenzhen-based company’s second-quarter smartphones sales plunged 75 percent from a year ago to 9.8 million units, ranking it eighth globally, according to data from market research firm Omdia.

Though the new P50 and P50 Pro are 4G-only, their power consumption and communications via 4G, WiFi 6 and artificial intelligence technology will give users a better performance experience, Yu said.

The starting model is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888, while the Pro version will use dual chips, Kirin 9000 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888. Qualcomm has a US license to sell 4G chips to Huawei, Yicai Global reported last November. Many key components for displays and images have also gradually become accessible to the firm.

According to a supply chain source, Huawei’s current 4G orders with Qualcomm are “not many,” but judging from the pricing of the P50, the privately held Chinese company is not going after sales growth, rather it is hoping to keep its flagship products upmarket.

Prices start from CNY4,488 (USD695), with the top range P50 Pro at CNY5,988. Several orders have been placed already, though consumers questioned the high pricing, Yicai Global learned from e-commerce platforms JD.Com and Tmall.

Editor: Futura Costaglione