BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. said it hopes to consolidate Latin America as one of its top growth markets, alongside Europe and Asia, as it launched its new smartphone the Mate 9 in Panama on Thursday.
Johanna Escala, Operations Manager for Huawei in Panama, told Xinhua that the company had met its objective of selling 12 million smartphones in Latin America in 2016, 40 percent more than in 2015.
In Panama alone, the growth stood at 25 percent year-on-year.
Escala pointed out that the growth of the brand has been healthy after five years in Panama, especially as it strives to become the top smartphone seller in the country.
As part of this strategy, in 2015, Huawei decided to become a sponsor for the Panama national football team, which has been seeking to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, as well as for the Panamanian Football League.
This has made Panama one of more than 30 sponsorships Huawei maintains in the football world as it also sponsors famous teams such as Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, and AC Milan.
In terms of the Mate 9, Escala said it has also been launched in other Central American markets and that Huawei hopes to unveil the Mate 10 there in the second half of 2017.
During the presentation of the Mate 9, Huawei said it could hold an entire day of use with just a 30-minute charge, among a slew of new technologies.
In 2016, Huawei sold over 139 million smartphones worldwide, a 29 percent increase over 2015.
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