Huawei Launches Ascend P2, Says it Sold 32 Million Smartphones in 2012

The new Huawei Ascend P2 revealed today at MWC 2013 (Image: Engadget)

Chinese phone-maker Huawei unveiled its new Ascend P2 today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Then Huawei revealed some of its 2012 numbers in a press release. Of 52 million handsets shipped in 2012, 32 million were smartphones, an increase of 60 percent on the previous year.

In terms of financials, which also covers the company’s under-scrutiny telecoms business, Huawei saw US$7.5 billion in sales revenue in 2012 as a whole, up 10 percent from the previous year.

The new Ascend P2 runs Android 4.1 (not the latest 4.2) and has a 720p 4.7-inch Gorilla Glass 2 screen. It marks Huawei’s second year using the ‘Ascend’ name for its premium smartphones, which include the 6.1-inch screen of the Ascend Mate which is designed as a challenger to the popular palm-stretcher that is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Earlier this month, Canalys observed that Huawei is now the world’s third-largest phone-maker, behind Samsung and Apple and only just ahead of compatriot rival ZTE.

Huawei’s recent financial report noted that the company sees 66 percent of revenues coming from outside China – mostly from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.