Huawei's TalkBand Wearables

Huawei recently launched its TalkBand smartband. The company is entering the wearables market and launched TalkBand along with the MediaPad X1 phablet. According to Canalys, basic and smart wearable band shipments grew dramatically in the second half of 2013. Fitbit became the new leader of the wearable band market, following the launch of its affordable Flex and Force bands in May and October 2013 respectively. It dominated the market for basic bands, with over 50% market share in the second half of the year.

“We’re excited to unveil our new 4G LTE-enabled MediaPads which, together with HUAWEI TalkBand B1, deliver the essential pillars of happiness – health, connection to family, contact with friends and access to work – without boundaries,” said Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group. “Huawei’s culture of innovation places us in prime position to develop devices that bring people the benefits and joy of technology through 4G LTE connectivity.”

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Canalys also states that Samsung accounted for the majority of smart band shipments according to Canalys market estimates. ‘Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear with a major marketing push that gained significant consumer interest. Shipments of the device took Samsung to the top of the smart band category, though disappointing sell-through will necessitate more promotional activity in coming months,’ said Chris Jones, VP and Principal Analyst at Canalys. ‘Basic band vendors have greater wearable expertise and have shipped greater numbers to date, but smart bands are already growing faster. Increasingly, smart bands will adopt basic band features as the two categories converge.

Huawei claimed the number 3 smartphone vendor last year. The company gained 4.9 percent of shipments, trailing Samsung and Apple Inc., according to IDC. The LTE Cat4-enabled MediaPad X1 and M1 download work files in seconds and 1GB movies in one minute with speeds of up to 150 Mbps. In-built WiFi routers and 2.4/5G dual mode WiFi support with voice call and SMS capabilities provide on-the-spot connection. The AirSharing function enables screen sharing and the transfer of images via cloud photo sharing. MediaPads X1 and M1 feature the latest intuitive interface, Emotion UI 2.0, with customizable homescreens, enhanced ‘Standard’ and ‘Simplicity’ UIs and over 1,000 diverse themes.