Huawei says it shipped 200M phones quicker than it did in 2018

Huawei is keen to remind the world that the US ban isn't holding it back. The controversial company shipped 200 million phones two months earlier than it did in 2018, it said Wednesday, the same day its Mate X foldable phone launched in China.

Its release puts this success down to the launch of "stand-out devices" like the P30 and Mate 30 series, as well as the 5G Kirin 990 chip that powers the latter. 

The company is celebrating the milestone by releasing a Commemorative Edition of the Mate 30 Pro 5G. It'll have 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, along with a color choice of Forest Green and Orange "with vegan leather."

Watch this: Huawei unveils Mate 30 series phones

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The limited edition device will be available to order in China on Nov. 1, but Huawei didn't mention an international launch -- we've reached out for comment on that and will update when we hear back.

Last week, Huawei said it'd seen a year-on-year shipment increase of 26% and exceeded revenue expectations despite the company's blacklisting by the US Commerce Department. That ban created uncertainty about its ability to do business with US companies and meant its Mate 30 devices shipped without full support for Google's Android operating system, which an executive acknowledged as a major challenge earlier this week.

First published at 4:33 a.m. PT.
Updated at 4:50 a.m. PT: Adds more detail.

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