Will Pura become the next nova?

Huawei's "P" series celebrated its 12th anniversary in 2024. To celebrate the series' efforts in imaging and fashion for Huawei phones, the P series received a significant anniversary gift in the form of a formal upgrade to the "Pura" series. The brand-new brand identity and brand philosophy are fully embodied in the Pura 70 series.

The establishment of the Pura series is not purely a "brand upgrade." Recently, Huawei has registered multiple "Pura" trademarks, including the Pura brand logo, PuraWatch, PuraKey, PuraView, etc. These trademarks cover a wide range of business areas, from transportation tools to jewelry and watches.

(Source: Sina Tech)

More importantly, even before these trademarks were exposed, Huawei had even applied for the "PuraOS" trademark, suggesting that the Pura series will have an independent operating system.

Judging from this series of actions, Pura seems more like the establishment of a new sub-brand for Huawei rather than a simple brand upgrade of the "P" series. But does Huawei still need to achieve a larger market share and solidify its position in the consumer market through sub-brands?

Independent Pura, emphasizing both fashion and imaging

In the official promotional video for the Pura 70 series, we can still find traces of the fashion genes and imaging lineage of the former P series.

The P series began with a story about fashion and trends. The Huawei Ascend P1, released in 2012, adopted an integrated metal frame design. On this basis, the overall thickness of the phone was only 7.69mm, and its weight was only 110g. At that time, it was a unique existence in the mobile phone market, being both light and thin. Six months later, the iterative model, the Huawei Ascend P2, mainly addressed performance deficiencies, officially propelling the series onto the flagship path.

(Source: Huawei)

In the following years, the P series gave birth to numerous classic designs that led the mobile phone market, such as the aurora color of the P20, the AG matte glass of the P40, and the island Deco lens module of the P60 Art. Even in 2024, the refreshed Pura 70 Ultra still brought a starburst texture leather, satisfying both touch and visual effects.

Another core of the P series is imaging, which has always been Huawei's forte. Huawei first chose to collaborate with the optical brand Leica in the P9, ushering in a new chapter in the cooperation between mobile phones and professional imaging brands. Its color + black-and-white dual-camera solution also introduced the term "tonality" to the mobile imaging field. By the time of the P30 Pro, Huawei introduced a periscope telephoto lens, evolving mobile photography into the era of telephoto; subsequent P40 series and P50 series have also continuously led the development of mobile imaging.

(Source: Huawei)

After Pura's independence, it can continue with fashionable designs, bringing Huawei's influence to more consumer categories. For example, Huawei released the HUAWEI WATCH ULTIMATE DESIGN非凡大师 smartwatch last year, which is a "collaboration" with Huawei's first high-end watch brand "ULTIMATE DESIGN." By positioning independent high-end brands, Huawei has further elevated the positioning of its products.

(Source: Huawei Mall)

In recent years, Huawei has also tried out many fashion-related products, like the FreeBuds Lipstick lipstick earbuds. Although this earbud design combines innovation and fashion, some consumer groups may have a resistance due to Huawei's stronger technological attributes. If such products that blend fashion and technology were handed over to Pura, they might receive higher attention.

Returning to the mobile phone product line, judging from Huawei's registration of "PuraOS," it may equip Pura's models with an independent UI. Although it is still a customized version of HarmonyOS, it will make some differentiated design and functional adjustments, which is conducive to attracting more young users or female customers. Of course, the ultimate goal of Pura's independence is still to help Huawei quickly return to its original market position.

Huawei joins the sub-brand battle

Huawei is one of the earliest Chinese mobile phone brands to establish sub-brands. After Xiaomi introduced Redmi, Huawei also launched Honor. At that time, Honor's mission was also clear: to capture the cost-effective market.

After Honor officially became independent in 2020, Huawei became one of the few Chinese mobile phone manufacturers without a sub-brand (excluding brands in collaboration with other companies). This has led to Huawei frequently falling behind in the current mid-range market battle.

Taking this year's mid-range market as an example, since Qualcomm released the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and 7+ Gen 3 secondary flagship mobile platforms, iQOO released the Z9 Turbo, realme released the Neo6 and Neo6 SE models, OnePlus and Redmi also respectively released the OnePlus Ace 3V and Turbo 3 cost-effective models, pushing the battlefield into a white-hot stage.

(Source: realme)

Although the performance of various mid-range models is similar, each company is heavily stacking up on peripheral configurations, such as the 6000mAh ultra-large battery of the iQOO Z9 Turbo and the 120W SuperVOOC flash charging of the realme Neo6. In comparison, Huawei can only rely on its nova series to support the mid-range market, appearing somewhat lacking in confidence in this melee.

On the other hand, nova's mission has always been to target models that focus on the offline market, such as the OPPO Reno, vivo S, and Honor digital series. This means that nova often does not focus on "hard power" but rather on design. If Pura can retain some of nova's design sense while also focusing on cost-effectiveness, then the battlefield between sub-brands will truly welcome a worthy opponent.

(Source: Huawei Mall)

As a sub-brand, Pura will have greater independence in the future, including in areas such as design and imaging. It will also have more resources and channels, further increasing Huawei's voice in the mobile phone market. Judging from the Pura 70 Ultra, which has recently caused heated discussions across the internet, its retractable lens design demonstrates great plasticity.

What is the significance of Pura's independence?

Last August, Huawei became one of the most talked-about mobile phone brands at the time with the "surprise" launch of the Mate 60 series. The return of the Kirin chip, 5G network, and industry-leading satellite communication technology led to rapid sales growth of the series, laying the groundwork for Huawei's return to the market leadership position.

The latest report released by market research firm IDC shows that Huawei captured the top spot in China's mobile phone market shipments in the first quarter of 2024, with a market share of 17% and a year-on-year growth of 70%. In terms of shipments, Huawei's mobile phones also reached 11.7 million units in the first quarter of this year.

(Source: IDC)

The success of the Mate 60 series was predictable. The Mate series, with its strong business aura, has always been popular with consumers. The poor performance of previous products was only due to the lack of advanced networks, leading to the loss of some users. In contrast, the P series has always been the first choice for imaging enthusiasts. However, as various brands have been committed to telling the story of mobile photography in recent years, the P series' focus has been dispersed, and its competitiveness has gradually declined, becoming less popular than in previous years.

This can be seen from the differences between the first sales of the Mate 60 series and the Pura 70 series: LeiTech personally experienced the surprise launches of these two phenomenal products. The former not only had a high level of discussion but also suffered from longer periods of rush purchases. This shows that Huawei needs to allow Pura to regain market voice and its former market height.

(Source: LeiTech)

The market space left for Pura is, firstly, to continue to focus on the imaging field and compete head-on with Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo. However, the reality is that Huawei is still in a restricted period and it is difficult to procure advanced sensors. With hardware differences, it seems quite difficult to compete with current imaging flagships. Nevertheless, if Pura aims its main battlefield at the online market, I believe that with its unique design, it will surely stand out in the current "bloody sea".

Of course, whether Pura will become independent is still just a speculation. Huawei still has at least two launches this quarter, including a summer new product launch and a HarmonyOS developer conference. If, as leaked information suggests, PuraOS will appear in the form of HarmonyOS NEXT independent UI, then there will certainly be more information disclosed at the HarmonyOS developer conference. Whether Pura becomes independent or not, consumers still pay more attention to the product itself. If the product is strong enough, does it matter whether it is independent or not?

Source: LeiTech