Days before iPhone 6 release, Huawei unveils phone with sapphire glass, finger-sensor

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd unveiled on Friday a slate of new devices meant to showcase the Chinese company's hardware technology, just days before Apple Inc releases its highly-anticipated iPhone 6 on September 9.

Huawei, which began as a telecom equipment company in 1987, has rapidly transformed itself in recent years into the world's No. 3 smartphone maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple.

Today it markets its devices as comparable to Samsung and Apple products, which are often viewed by consumers as the technological cutting edge.

Huawei said Friday it would release a limited edition of its high-end Ascend P7 phone with a sapphire glass display - the costly but durable material that's been the subject of industry chatter following reports this year that Apple would begin mass producing devices with sapphire.

Huawei also said at an electronics trade show in Berlin that its Ascend Matenew Ascend P7 phone7 'phablet' would become the first Android smartphone on the market with a finger-print sensor, a technology that was first seen on Apple's iPhone 5s, announced last September.

In a statement, the company's smartphone division chief Richard Yu said the sapphire glass phone demonstrated Huawei's 'advanced craftsmanship' and its ability to 'deliver the most advanced technology into the hands of consumers'.

Shenzhen-based Huawei claimed 6.9% smartphone market share in the second quarter according to analyst IDC, behind Samsung's 25.2% and Apple's 11.9%.