Huawei unveils its latest smartphone series

Huawei Technologies Co unveiled its latest high-end smartphone P40 series on Thursday in Paris via an online-only launch, as the Chinese tech giant aims to lure more consumers with cutting-edge photo-taking features.

The move came as Huawei is working to maintain the growth momentum of its smartphone business, despite the US government's restrictions and the COVID-19 outbreak.

Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business group, said the new handsets, specifically, the P40, P40 Pro, and P40 Pro Plus, come with flagship features, including Huawei's 5G Kirin 990 processors, up to five rear cameras, and up to 90Hz displays.

The latest models are also powered by upgraded artificial intelligence technologies which can help consumers take better pictures, Yu said.

The move comes as Huawei safeguarded its reputation as the world's second-largest smartphone vendor last year amid the US government's efforts to ban it from using Google's Android operating system in its mobile devices.

To cope with Washington's restrictions, Huawei has developed its in-house operating system Harmony, and it has been working hard to build the ecosystem for Huawei Mobile Services, the foundation for its ability to sell smart devices in overseas markets.

P40 series also come with the Huawei AppGallery, its self-developed online store for downloading mobile apps.

Yu said Huawei Mobile Services, or HMS, are now available in more than 170 markets, with 400 million monthly active users. Also, it boasts more than 1.3 million third-party app developers and partners.

"We welcome every developer to join the HMS ecosystem,"Yu said.

In 2019, Huawei shipped more than 240 million handsets, a rise of nearly 17 percent on the 206 million in 2018.