Huawei to launch its flagship Ascend P8 smartphone in April

Huawei Ascend P7

We’re currently on a tour of Huawei’s facilities in China and several company executives have revealed that the company will be launching a follow up to the successful Ascend P7 later this year but the handset won’t be launching at the MWC 2015.

Jerry Huang, Director of Marketing Communications at Huawei Global, confirmed that whilst the company will launch three new wearable devices at MWC in a few weeks, the company’s next-generation Ascend smartphone won’t launch until later this year.

We’ve heard that the Ascend P8 will share several design similarities with the company’s existing P-Series devices but rather than launch at the annual MWC trade show, the company will hold a separate launch event in April to introduce the world to its new device. The P8 is expected to share the same DNA as the P7 (and P6) and will focus on the key ideals of beauty, functionality and performance. Previously the P6 held the title of world’s slimmest smartphone, but the company has confirmed that whilst it endeavours to make its handsets as slim and beautiful as possible, it won’t sacrifice functionality for the sake of build and beauty.

Kevin Ho, President of the handset product line, said:

“We launched the P6 in London and maybe we launch our new flagship in London this year. I think in the London market we are thinking about how to optimize our sales team and improve our collaboration with operators. There are a lot of challenges to sell in the UK. Consumers in London have a lot of choice and they have a very good sense of smartphones. We are working hard to increase market share.”

Huawei is expected to launch the Ascend P8 in April in London with James Jie, the company’s VP for Handset Product Line (for the P-Series and the man who designed the Ascend D2) confirming that future P series launches will take place in Europe as it is a key market for the company. According to Trusted Reviews, the London event is scheduled for April 15th.