Huawei ups push into Mideast; Windows Phone soon

ICT solutions provider Huawei announced that it would be collaborating with Microsoft to make its first Windows Phone handset. In the Middle East, Huawei Device has focused on strengthening its regional distribution partnerships and has successfully launched a number of smartphones in the UAE, with plans to unveil its flagship Ascend P1 handset this month — the first Huawei phone to be introduced regionally under the company’s new Ascend Platinum series. Part of the Huawei Ascend line — the company’s best-in-line smartphone family — the new Huawei Ascend with Windows Phone 8 expands the firm’s smartphone portfolio and brings the Windows Phone platform to an even bigger audience. Shenzhen-based Huawei is one of the few selected vendors in the world to carry the Windows Phone 8 OS in its handsets. “2012 is building up to be a great year for Huawei. Now, we are poised to end the year with a big bang with the introduction of our first smartphone running on the Windows Phone platform,” Huawei Device chief marketing officer Shao Yang said. While relatively new to the mobile phone business, Huawei has revealed ambitious plans to establish itself as one of the top five global smartphone vendors within the next two years, and reaching the top three by 2015. “With Huawei’s impressive global capabilities, together we can bring Windows Phone 8 to more people around the world,” Microsoft Windows Phone Division corporate vice-president Terry Myerson said. Huawei’s consumer business recorded global sales revenues of just over $7 billion last year, an increase of 44.3 per cent over the previous year with robust growth in the smart devices segment shipping close to 150 million units in 2011. From khaleejtimes