14 DAY TRIAL // Showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January, it appears that Huawei Ascend P1 won’t hit shelves until next month.
Moreover, the Chinese handset maker announced different availability dates for various regions, which will make the global rollout of the Ascend P1 a bit confusing and frustrating for those who are still waiting to purchase it.
For example, the first countries to get the Huawei Ascend P1 are Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by May. The smartphone will be launched through leading carriers and retailers across these countries.
Furthermore, the Ascend P1 will be released in Latin America in June, while Europeans will be able to get their hands on the device starting this summer. Other markets, including North America and Middle East will get the smartphone soon after.
However, it’s clear that announcing a new product in January just to launch it 5-6 months later is a bad marketing move.
This delay between the official announcement and the actual release on the market certainly won’t do any good for Huawei.
Huawei Ascend P1 will be shipped with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board. This is amongst the slimmest Android phones announced this year at only 7.7mm thickness.
Hardware-wise, the device is equipped with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and packs 1GB of RAM, 4GB of ROM and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
There’s also an impressive 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back, as well as a 4.3-inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display (540 x 960 pixels).
“The global availability of the Ascend P1, which combines smart features and a sexy design, represents a significant milestone for Huawei Device. We are sending strong signals of our intention to transform into a consumer-facing brand and extend our market leadership globally by strengthening our range of flagship products. We are also expanding our sales and distribution channels to move beyond a focus on operators,” said Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei Device.