Huawei Japan experience store planned

Huawei Japan is to open its first smartphone experience store in Tokyo – but customers will not be able to buy a handset there.

The Chinese phone manufacturer says it intends to use the outlet to provide services to users, improve brand influence and break the misunderstanding that low-price smartphones are not easy to use.

While the store is scheduled to open in Tokyo before June, the company has yet to confirm the location.

Meanwhile, Huawei plans to increase the number of its global smartphone stores from 23,000 to 40,000 – a 70 per cent jump. It is hoping to improve its sales performance in the smartphone sector, where growth has already started to slow.

Huawei was ranked third by global smartphone shipments last year, trailing Samsung and Apple, and is aiming for second place.