China's Huawei to Host Product Launch Event on Sept 25

FILE PHOTO: Pricing details of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphones are seen on smartphones displayed at a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pricing details of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphones are seen on smartphones displayed at a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
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China's Huawei to Host Product Launch Event on Sept 25

FILE PHOTO: Pricing details of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphones are seen on smartphones displayed at a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pricing details of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphones are seen on smartphones displayed at a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

China's Huawei Technologies said on Thursday it will hold a media event to discuss new products on Sept. 25, fanning expectations that details about recently released smartphones will be revealed.

Its Mate 60 series is in the spotlight - both for the use of a China-made advanced chip and because the series likely marks the first major attempt by Huawei's smartphone business to come back from crippling US sanctions.

Reuters said that Huawei did not elaborate on the new products that will be discussed but domestic business daily Yicai reported that information about its latest phones will be disclosed.

Huawei started selling its latest high-end smartphones Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro at the end of last month and last week it started presales for its Mate 60 Pro+ smartphone alongside a new foldable phone Mate X5.

The series' launch was unusual in that Huawei did not carry out any pre-marketing or organize a glitzy event. Even so, the phones have caused a stir, with the first sales coinciding with a trip to China by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and because the Pro version was found to be using a 5G-capable chip made by a Chinese company.

How Huawei's phones will fare against Apple at a time of heightened US-Sino tensions will be of much interest to investors and China watchers.

The launch of Apple's iPhone 15 series this week has drawn mixed reactions in China - the company's third-largest market - with many online users liking its faster chip and improved gaming capabilities while others preferred Huawei's new smartphone.

Further denting Apple's sheen in China, the government has expanded curbs on the use of iPhones by state employees, with some told not to use them at work.

The state-backed Securities Times this week reported that Huawei had raised its Mate 60 series second-half shipment target by 20% due to better-than-expected sales.

Huawei, once the world's largest smartphone maker, saw that business decimated after the US started restricting tech exports to the company in 2019.
The US and other Western governments have labelled Huawei a security risk, a charge the company denies. Since then, Huawei has only sold limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.



Amazon Launches Its First Internet Satellites to Compete Against SpaceX's Starlinks 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Amazon Launches Its First Internet Satellites to Compete Against SpaceX's Starlinks 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 

Amazon’s first batch of internet satellites rocketed into orbit Monday, the latest entry in the mega constellation market currently dominated by SpaceX's thousands of Starlinks.

The United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles (630 kilometers).

Two test satellites were launched in 2023, also by an Atlas V. Project officials said major upgrades were made to the newest version. The latest satellites also are coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight in an attempt to accommodate astronomers.

Stargazers oppose the fast-growing constellations of low-orbiting satellites, arguing they spoil observations. Others fear more satellite collisions.

Founded by Jeff Bezos, who now runs his own rocket company, Blue Origin, Amazon aims to put more than 3,200 of these satellites into orbit to provide fast, affordable broadband service around the globe.

Elon Musk's SpaceX already has launched more than 8,000 Starlinks since 2019. The company marked its 250th Starlink launch Sunday night. More than 7,000 Starlinks are still in orbit some 300-plus miles (550 kilometers) above Earth.

The European-based OneWeb satellite constellation numbers in the hundreds in an even higher orbit.

Amazon already has purchased dozens of rocket launches from United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin for Project Kuiper, as well as others.

"There are some things you can only learn in flight" despite extensive testing on the ground, said Rajeev Badyal, the project's vice president.

"No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey," he said in a statement ahead of the evening liftoff.

The first liftoff attempt earlier this month was nixed by bad weather. It took until now to secure another spot in the launch lineup at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.