Chinese major Huawei is confident of advancing its position amongst the top five smartphone brands with the launch of its latest series of Ascend smartphones.

The company is perceived as a challenger brand - one that many people may not have been familiar with one or two years ago.

"With the Huawei Ascend P2 and the Ascend Mate, we have tried to reach the premium market segment," Huawei Device Middle East vice-president Ashraf Fawakherji said in an interview to the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication..

"As such, the devices include all the features you would need and more for entertainment or business on-the-go, offering a supercharged multimedia, communication and creative experience.

"Both represent Huawei's continued push into the upper echelons of the smartphone market where we can really innovate in our technology offerings," he said.

"Any global company will tell you that the consumer device industry - particularly smartphones - is a very competitive business to be in.

"That said, the exceptional technology that Huawei brings to the market is unparalleled," he added.

"We have already launched several world firsts in the smartphone segment - the Ascend P1 S was the world's slimmest smartphone at the time of launch. We have now raised the bar," he said.

"The Ascend P2 is the world's only LTE Category 4 smartphone providing an ultrafast web experience with download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and the Ascend Mate is the world's largest smartphone with a 6.1-inch screen," he explained.

"Running on the Android 4.1 operating system, the smartphones also feature Huawei's own Emotion 1.5 user interface.

"This is essentially a software 'skin' that overlaps onto Android 4.1, giving users further customisation of their interface," stated Fawakherji.

According to him, Huawei's quick power control and battery efficiency technology allows the smartphone up to two days of ordinary usage on a single charge with the fastest battery charging capability in its range, saving over 30 per cent of charging time.

When asked what made the company believe that the new devices would enable it to compete with market leaders such as Apple and Samsung, he said "the products really do speak for themselves."

"It is thus very important for us to give the public more and more opportunities to experience Huawei technology," he added.-TradeArabia News Service