On October 16, 2018, the tech world's attention was fixed on London, where Huawei unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. The event was a statement of intent, showcasing Huawei's ambition to dethrone Samsung and Apple as the world's top smartphone maker. Against a backdrop of increasing brand recognition following the success of the P20 Pro, this launch was designed to highlight superior engineering and innovation. The date marks the moment Huawei presented a device packed with industry-firsts, such as the 7nm Kirin 980 chipset and reverse wireless charging, positioning the Mate 20 series as the technological benchmark for late 2018 and beyond.
What it is
The Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro were high-end Android smartphones representing the pinnacle of the company's engineering. The Mate 20 Pro was the star, featuring a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with an in-screen fingerprint scanner, while the standard Mate 20 had a larger 6.53-inch flat LCD with a smaller 'teardrop' notch and a rear-mounted scanner. Both were powered by the cutting-edge 7nm Kirin 980 AI processor. Their most iconic feature was the square-shaped Leica triple-camera system on the back. The Pro model combined a 40MP main, 20MP ultra-wide, and 8MP telephoto lens, offering unmatched versatility. It also introduced 40W SuperCharge fast charging and a novel reverse wireless charging feature, allowing it to charge other Qi-enabled devices.
How it came to be
The development of the Mate 20 series was driven by Huawei's desire to cement its leadership in mobile innovation. Building on the photographic prowess of the P20 Pro, engineers were tasked with creating an all-encompassing flagship. The design brief focused on three pillars: ultimate performance, camera versatility, and intelligent battery life. This led to the in-house development of the Kirin 980, the world's first commercially available 7nm chipset. The distinctive square camera module was an engineering solution to house the complex triple-lens system with an ultra-wide lens, a direct response to consumer desire for more photographic flexibility. The target audience was tech-savvy professionals and power users who demanded the best performance, battery, and camera in a single premium package.
How many it sold
The Huawei Mate 20 series achieved significant commercial success, underscoring the brand's growing global appeal. Shortly after launch, Huawei announced it had shipped 5 million units in just over two months. By March 2019, less than five months after its debut, the company confirmed that shipments had surpassed the 10 million mark, making it one of the most successful Mate series to date. The devices sold particularly well in China and Europe, where the brand's reputation for quality hardware and camera excellence was strongest. The series' lifetime sales are estimated to be over 17 million units, a remarkable figure that solidified Huawei's position as the world's number two smartphone manufacturer at the time, closely challenging Samsung for the top spot.
Why it resonated
The Mate 20 Pro, in particular, resonated with consumers because it was a 'kitchen sink' device that seemed to have no compromises. While competitors offered incremental updates, Huawei delivered a phone packed with futuristic and genuinely useful features. The Leica triple-camera system, with its addition of a high-quality ultra-wide lens, was a game-changer for mobile photography, offering creative possibilities that rivals couldn't match. Furthermore, the combination of a massive battery, incredibly fast 40W charging, and the novel reverse wireless charging created a narrative of technological superiority. For many, the Mate 20 Pro was the most complete and exciting smartphone of 2018, offering a compelling reason to switch from more established brands.
Impact today
The legacy of the Huawei Mate 20 series is most visible in smartphone design and camera technology. The distinctive square camera bump, initially a polarizing design choice, became an industry trend, adopted in various forms by Apple for its iPhone 11 Pro and Google for its Pixel 4 just a year later. It normalized the idea of a prominent, multi-lens camera module as a signifier of photographic prowess. The series also cemented the ultra-wide lens as an essential component of any flagship camera system. While Huawei's global market position has since changed due to external pressures, the Mate 20 Pro remains a historical benchmark for peak smartphone innovation, representing a moment when the company set the pace for the entire industry.
Historical content researched and generated by Gemini 2.5 Pro.