Huawei (pronounced wah-way), the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, on Wednesday night unveiled its latest device, the Ascend P7, which runs on Google's Android operating system. At a glittering event in Dubai, Huawei showed its 14th unveiling in just two years. The phone's starting price of Dh1,699 doesn't shock as it looks a bit like an iPhone 5S might if it were made by Samsung.
“We have only been in this business for two years as a brand,” said Ashraf Fawakherji, vice president of Huawei Device Middle East. “In the UAE we have done extremely well.”
A 14.9 per cent share of the country’s booming smartphone market in just two years is impressive indeed.
In the UAE, he said, “the gap we are trying to close is big behind the big boys of Apple and Samsung.”
Huawei is building as many bridges across that gap as possible, with 14 phones available in the Emirates at prices ranging from Dh259 all the way up to the P7 at Dh1,699.
“We have all the price points covered in the market, our biggest seller is the mid-range, the G Series, from Dh500-Dh800. Most of them are dual sim phones,” Mr Fawakherji says.
The precursor to the Ascend P7, the P6, was a breakthrough selling 4 million devices globally, 3 million outside China.
The new P7 has a 5-inch screen and at 6.5mm is thinner than the already Kate Moss-like 7.6mm iPhone 5S.
“Our design is heavily weighted towards customer feedback,” said Mr Fawakherji. “Any negative point highlighted in the P6 plus the research and requirements of seven different markets, one of them the Middle East, are registered and built into the design of the new phone. Our power button is on the side of the phone, specifically asked for by research of our customers. Now all the buttons are on one side so you can stand the phone in landscape aspect and watch the screen. It’s not a miracle, it’s basic, we have met the requirements of what people asked for.”
Smartphones in the region are thriving not only because of the array of different models and cheaper handsets. The region’s telcos are increasingly looking towards data plans as a revenue driver. A range of low-cost plans are encouraging the switch from feature phones to smartphones.
“We are in every channel ready for customers to see us and realise we have a value offering that stands up against all the others, ”said Mr Fawakherji. “We are nor focusing on numbers, we want to provide an excellent product and service and the numbers will come. This market is so dynamic there is always something new next week so we have to be at the edge, at the correct price point and in the correct channels.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
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Rating: 4/5
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
