Chinese telecom giant Huawei has launched a new, high-resolution smartphone. But in countries like Brazil, Huawei has low brand recognition. The company hopes to change that, with an emphasis on high-end products. CGTN's Paulo Cabral reports.

In 2014, Huawei first tried to get into the Brazilian market with a new smartphone, but its strategy did not work - and the company left after a few months. Now, Huawei is back.

This month, it launched its P30 and P30 Lite models with high-resolution cameras and hopes Brazil will help propel the firm to become the worldwide market leader of smartphones. In the first quarter of 2019, Huawei was the second biggest smart phone seller worldwide, overtaking Apple but still behind Samsung. In Brazil, the ranking is led by Samsung with Motorola second followed by LG and Apple, numbers recorded before Huawei was blocked by the U.S..

This time, Huawei is betting on the high-end market - unlike 2014 when the company focused on cheaper handsets for entry level consumers.

JOSE LUIZ DO NASCIMENTO SALES DIRECTOR, HUAWEI BRAZIL "We are coming to Brazil with solid investments in order to reach the Premium market and establish our brand and then we will spread to other tiers in different segments."

PAULO CABRAL SAO PAULO "What's the importance of Brazil on Huawei's global strategy?"

JOSE LUIZ DO NASCIMENTO SALES DIRECTOR, HUAWEI BRAZIL "Brazil is one of the top four potential markets in the smartphone areas, so we are very close to the number one vendor. If you consider that these numbers we don't have Brazil, we have a potential market of more than 40 million units a year, Brazil is one of the top four markets in the world, Brazil for sure will have a very big contribution to the global numbers."

PAULO CABRAL SAO PAULO "Now I would like to get to a point that's been in the headlines all over the world. Discussion with Google over the use of its operating system Android by Huawei. How does that play into your strategy?"

JOSE LUIZ DO NASCIMENTO SALES DIRECTOR, HUAWEI BRAZIL "We are discussing this issue internally, we are working hard, so I believe in the next days and weeks we will have new statements about this. But what I really wanna say is that for the phones and models we have right now, there is no impact at all. Our phones continue running without any issue."

PAULO CABRAL SAO PAULO "The Huawei handsets available in Brazil may well be equal to its competitors when it comes to their technology. But the Chinese are also faced with the challenge of getting its brand recognized and trusted by Brazilian consumers."

RENATO MEIRELES CONSUMER & COMMERCIAL DEVICES ANALYST, IDC "The brand awareness of Huawei and of other Chinese manufacturers coming to Brazil remains something yet to be developed. Nowadays, they represent less than one percent of the market. And they have to deal with consumers that don't yet have such a positive view of Chinese makers in this industry."

Huawei faces a global challenge as it tries to cope with the U.S. decision to punish the company on national security concerns- but still hoping this will not hinder its growth in new markets in Brazil. Paulo Cabral, CGTN, Sao Paulo.