Paul Briden 16/08/2018 - 6:28pm

The Huawei Mate 20 could start from $999!

With Huawei being now widely acknowledged as in the top three global smartphone manufacturers, alongside Apple and Samsung, it's perhaps not surprising that the firm could be jumping on the $800-$1000 flagship bandwagon with the Huawei Mate 20.

An early retail listing at Giztop allegedly shows the RRP of the regular Huawei Mate 20 model might be set at $999, with the Mate 20 Lite expected to be cheaper, and the Mate 20 Pro expected to be more expensive still. This also doesn't take into account storage variants.

The listing also has a set of specs including the Kirin 980 processor, a 6.3in AMOLED QHD display, and a 40MP triple-sensor Leica camera. It also has a 4,200mAh battery, Android Pie, and options for 6GB or 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB of storage. Lastly, the listing says it will be available at the "end of September" which is earlier than the previously anticipated launch bracket inside October.

Is this price point a good idea though?

Huawei Mate 20 Price – Is $1000 A Good Idea!? 

Huawei's done a good job of gaining ground in the market dominated by Apple and Samsung, but will consumers pay nearly $1000 for a Huawei phone?

I mean, sales figures would suggest most people won't pay that much for a Samsung Galaxy S or an iPhone, as both Samsung's Galaxy S9 series and the iPhone X have struggled to perform as their respective manufacturers had hoped.

Huawei's proved it's worthy of having a flagship priced similarly to its key rivals, but those rivals have proved that most consumers just won't pay that much for a new phone, regardless of who makes it and how many fancy tricks, bells, and whistles it has.

It's worth noting that this appears to be a preliminary sales listing. The image doesn't look like an official one and could have been doctored, but this doesn't necessarily mean the retail store in question doesn't have accurate information, it's possible it is just making do until the launch and wants to have a listing ready to go. This isn't an unusual practice.

So, we should be wary of a possible high price and an early launch. But, at the same time, take this with a pinch of salt for now.