(Yicai) Sept. 26 -- Huawei Technologies has officially returned to the high-end smartphone market after the Chinese telecoms giant released its fifth-generation network Mate 60 phone series and premium brand Ultimate Design.

Huawei released the new products yesterday during a launch event held on the second anniversary of the return to China of Meng Wanzghou, the daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei, who was detained in Canada for three years on an indictment by the US government accusing her of violating US sanctions against Iran and fraud.

The Mate 60 series has won great popularity among consumers, and Huawei is speeding up the production of the products, Richard Yu, executive director of Huawei and chief executive officer of its Consumer Business Group, said at the event.

Huawei’s comprehensive return to the high-end product line will hugely impact the industry, as some of Apple’s consumers will return to Huawei, according to analysts. Meanwhile, Huawei will introduce more technologies, bringing new opportunities to the Chinese supply chain.

Huawei’s weekly smartphone sales have almost tripled to 225,000 units since the company announced the presales of the Mate 60 series on Aug. 29, according to data from Counterpoint Research. This shows the pent-up demand for Huawei’s flagship phones, Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint, told Yicai.

“Having a strong rival in the industry is important, and Huawei’s return is exciting,” the manager at a Chinese phone maker told Yicai. People who are usually not interested in smartphones are paying very close attention to the industry recently, something that had not happened for many years, the manager noted.

Huawei also released its newest high-end brand Ultimate Design at the launch event yesterday. Ultimate Design will comprehensively upgrade Porsche Design, Yu noted.

The first Ultimate Design-branded mobile phone, the Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design, will go on sale on Sept. 28 with a starting price of CNY11,999 (USD1,640). The phone has ceramic and metal as material options for its back cover and is equipped with a signal-enhancement antenna that supports satellite calls up to 36,000 kilometers away.

Huawei also released other devices, including foldable smartphone Mate X5, tablet MatePad Pro, Smart Screen V5 Pro, earphone FreeBuds Pro 3, smart glasses, and Watch GT 4, at the event yesterday.

Editor: Futura Costaglione