Huawei unveils new smartphone

Chinese telecom giant Huawei launched a new smartphone Tuesday to better compete with high-end rivals like Apple and Samsung overseas, a company official said.

Huawei unveiled the Ascend P6 in London in one of its major smartphone launches of the year.

Starting as a provider of telecom network equipment, Huawei has sought to make inroads into mobile devices by selling smartphones under its own brand over the past three years.

In China's highly competitive smartphone segment, Huawei held a 10.1 percent share in the first quarter of this year, higher than Apple's 6.4 percent, according to consultancy Analysys International.

South Korea's Samsung was the market leader for smartphones in China with 17.3 percent for the period, its data showed.

Although it is a major vendor in China and some other international markets, Huawei still has limited smartphone sales in the US market.