Huawei starts to penetrate the lower-end market with "thousand-yuan phones" against the trend

Author | Huang Yu

Driven by the rising costs of storage chips, the mid-to-low-end smartphone market is set for a major reshuffle.

On March 23, at Huawei’s Spring All-Scenario New Product Launch, the Huawei Enjoy 90 series, an unprecedented “thousand-yuan phone,” became the highlight.

The entire Huawei Enjoy 90 series is equipped with Kirin 8 series processors and pre-installed with HarmonyOS 6. This indicates that Huawei’s Enjoy series is returning to 5G while also being the first to feature pure HarmonyOS.

Since Huawei’s Mate 60 launched the “Pioneer Plan” in 2023, Huawei has led the way in bringing 5G and Kirin chips back to mid- and high-end phones. Now, with the release of the Huawei Enjoy 90 series, Huawei Terminal BG CEO He Gang officially announced on-site: “Huawei phones have finally made a full comeback.”

Wall Street Insights learned from insiders that in recent years, after Huawei’s mid- and high-end phones returned, this year Huawei will also focus on low-end devices, using HarmonyOS, Kirin chips, and 5G speeds to capture more market share in the low-end segment.

Compared to the Huawei Enjoy 80 series, the Enjoy 90 series adds a Pro Max version. With similar configurations, prices have increased by about 100-200 yuan, starting at 1,299 yuan, with a notably smaller price increase than other manufacturers recently.

As Huawei shifts its focus back to the lower-tier smartphone market, a brutal stock clearance battle has already begun for the entire industry.

Thousand-Yuan Entry Attack

As one of Huawei’s main models to be emphasized this year, the Huawei Enjoy 90 series offers very sincere configurations, thoroughly ending the “compromise” state of the past two years.

It’s worth noting that the Huawei Enjoy series was born in 2015 with the launch of Enjoy 5 and Enjoy 5S, targeting the thousand-yuan market. In October 2018, Huawei released the Enjoy 9 Plus, introducing Kirin 710 into the series for the first time.

However, since 2019, due to sanctions, Huawei’s phones faced restrictions in 5G, chips, and production capacity, and Huawei phones could only use 4G chips for a time.

With the background music of “The boat has already passed ten thousand mountains,” Huawei launched its comeback in the second half of 2023 with the pre-sold Mate 60 5G series and foldable Mate X5, signaling its return to the market.

During that period, supply chain capacity was still ramping up. Huawei prioritized the supply of Kirin chips for high-end models like the Mate and Pura series, while chips for low-end models like the Enjoy series mainly remained 4G.

The newly released Huawei Enjoy 90 series is equipped with Kirin 8 series 5G processors, with the Enjoy 90 Pro Max and Plus versions powered by Kirin 8000, and the Enjoy 90 using Kirin 8000A. Compared to the previous generation Enjoy 80 series, which used Kirin 710A and Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chips, this is a significant performance leap.

From the Mate series, Pura series, Nova series, to the current Enjoy series, Huawei has finally completed the last piece of the puzzle, achieving a full-blooded return across all price segments.

In terms of price, the Huawei Enjoy 90 series demonstrates strong market aggression.

The starting price of the Enjoy 90 is 1,299 yuan; Enjoy 90 Plus starts at 1,499 yuan; and as the first Pro Max model in the Enjoy series, the Enjoy 90 Pro Max starts at 1,699 yuan, with the highest configuration 512GB version only 2,399 yuan. Compared to the same configurations of the previous generation, the price increase is controlled within 100 to 200 yuan.

In the current industry context, Huawei’s ability to keep such minimal price fluctuations is quite remarkable.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, the surge in DRAM (memory) prices has caused the BOM costs of low-, mid-, and high-end smartphones to rise by approximately 25%, 15%, and 10%, respectively. It is expected that by Q2 2026, the average cost impact will remain between 10% and 15%.

Faced with soaring storage chip prices, other manufacturers’ price hikes have become an unavoidable move.

Recently, brands like OPPO and vivo have announced price increases. Overall, the price hikes for low-end models range from 200 to 500 yuan, while new high-end models have increased by about 1,000 yuan.

Xiaomi President Lu Weibing openly stated: “I understand the price hikes of competitors; everyone is having a tough time, and we are also feeling the pain.”

In an industry plagued by rising storage costs and even forced to pass costs onto consumers, why has Huawei’s Enjoy series maintained relatively restrained pricing?

Counterpoint senior analyst Ivan Lam told Wall Street Insights that Huawei has done the most thorough and best job in domestic supply chain localization. Although Huawei has been affected by tight memory supply and price hikes, the supply of its low-end Kirin chips has become more stable, providing greater flexibility in cost control and pricing strategies.

Giant Companies’ Counterattack

Since 2023, Huawei has been steadily regaining market share.

IDC reports show that in 2025, Huawei’s market share in China’s smartphone shipment volume will reach 16.4%, ranking first. This is the first time since 2020 that Huawei has reclaimed the top spot in China’s market on an annual basis.

However, Huawei still faces significant pressure to regain its market position from six years ago.

According to IDC data, Huawei’s global smartphone shipments peaked at 240 million units in 2019, nearly half of which were overseas.

In China, Huawei shipped 140 million units, with a market share of 38.5%, more than double that of second-place OPPO.

Currently, although Huawei has reclaimed the top spot with a 16.4% market share, the market shares of major brands are quite close: last year, Apple, vivo, Xiaomi, and OPPO’s market shares were 16.2%, 16.2%, 15.4%, and 15.2%, respectively.

To regain lost market share, Huawei’s efforts are no longer just about normal product updates; it also needs to find new growth points to fill the void left after spinning off Honor.

It’s worth noting that Honor, positioned within Huawei’s ecosystem as a mid- to low-end brand, once accounted for about 40% of Huawei’s total sales.

Huawei’s current opportunities may lie more in the turbulent mid- and low-end markets.

An insider close to Huawei revealed that amid rising memory prices and competitors adjusting prices, Huawei hopes to expand in the mid- and low-end segments to reach more users.

Ivan Lam also pointed out to Wall Street Insights that Huawei has already secured a relatively stable share in the high-end market, and the launch of its thousand-yuan phones clearly shows Huawei’s intention to pursue more sales and market share.

As the global smartphone market enters the second half, the entire market has shifted from growth to stock.

Industry concentration remains high and competitive. According to IDC data for 2025, the top five smartphone manufacturers in China hold a combined market share of 79.4%, up from 79.1% the previous year, further increasing industry concentration.

Last year, Honor regrettably dropped out of the top five, becoming “Others,” and this year ASUS and Meizu exited the market. Many brands have also scaled back their strategies, leaving less room for small and medium-sized manufacturers.

Counterpoint Research senior analyst Yang Wang noted that in the lower price segments, there is limited room for price increases. If costs cannot be fully passed on, OEMs may need to adjust their product strategies. Recently, some low-SKU shipments have decreased.

This means that the cost proportion of storage chips in mid- and low-end phones is inherently higher, and during the storage chip price surge, the cost pressure is even greater.

In a market undergoing industry cleanup and with competitors struggling with costs, Huawei is undoubtedly in a prime position to push sales and market share into the lower-tier markets.

Like Huawei, Apple is also trying to gain more market share through high cost-performance ratios. Recently, Apple launched the iPhone 17e, with storage starting at 256GB, up from 128GB in the previous generation, but the starting price remains at 4,499 yuan.

This “downward pressure” poses enormous challenges for other domestic brands in the middle market.

When leading players are willing to sacrifice some profit per device for lower prices and a stronger ecosystem to compete in the lower-tier markets, manufacturers already impacted by component price hikes will face even greater survival challenges.

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