Our previous device related analysis / commentary can be viewed as below:
CES 2017 Device Blogs:
Day Three: (here)
Day Two: Drones (here)
Day Two: Robots (here)
Day One: (here)
Other Device Related Commentaries in ( Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3, Blog 4)
Some of the device highlights following our two day coverage of CES 2017 are as below:
1. Xiaomi joined CES for the first time and unveiled Mi Mix White: Xiaomi released Mi Mix White during its first show in CES 2017. Except the colour of the device, Mi Mix White is same as the model that Xiaomi launched in China in October 2016. Again, the model stands out the competition by its edgeless display: a 6.4-inch screen that enjoys a 91.3% screen-to-body ratio.
Xiaomi has yet to share any concrete plans for Mi Mix to hit the overseas markets. Neither retail price nor the date of availability has been communicated in the show. Even if Mi Mix will be launched in overseas markets, we don’t believe it would contribute meaningful volume due to its supply constraints as well as its lower yield rate. However, we do believe that the debut of Mi Mix in CES will play a critical role for Xiaomi to gain mind share from consumers around world and lift up its brand perception. This is value-added for Xiaomi’s entry in key overseas markets like United States.
2. Huawei brought Mate 9 to US: partner with Amazon and Google and sell via open channels: In addition to Honor 6X, Huawei confirmed to bring Mate 9 to US market during CES 2017. The model was first announced in November 2016 and it is Huawei’s first flagship model that hit US market. Priced at US$599.99, Mate 9 was equipped with 5.9” LCD display and is powered by the Huawei Hisilicon Kirin 960 processor, 20MP dual Leica camera, 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, and 4000mAh battery.
While its hardware specifications remain unchanged, the US version of Mate 9 will come with Amazon Alexa and support Google DayDream VR Platform. The model has been available in Bestbuy, NewEgg, Amazon and B&H since Jan 6th 2017.
United States has a strategic value for Huawei, and potentially be the new growth engine for the company. Mate 9 is a good product, but we are cautious on Huawei’s channel strategy in US: to win in this hype-competitive and operator-dominated smartphone market, open channels alone could be insufficient for the vendor to build scale in a timely manner.
3. ChangHong unveiled H2, world’s first material sensing smartphone: ChangHong is a micro smartphone vendor from China. During CES, it surprised us by launching H2, the world’s first smartphone incorporated with a miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer (SCiO sensor) which is used for molecular identification and sensing. The sensor enables consumers to use their smartphones to analyse the properties of foods, liquids, medication, body metrics, and many others. The sensor was developed by ADI and Consumer Physics, and ChangHong is the first vendor to incorporate it into a smartphone.
The sensor, together with the potentially enabled features, is eye-catching from technology perspective. But two questions remain: First, how fast and how broad can ChangHong and its partners to build up the ecosystem of apps to utilize the SCiO sensor? Second, how powerful is the feature when driving consumers to purchase their next smartphone?
