On June 11, Chinese smart wearable device company Huami (Nasdaq:HMI) released two new flagship watches, Amazfit Health Watch and Amazfit Verge 2. Largely reliant on working within Xiaomi’s ecosystem in the past, Huami now intends to develop its own brand. Launching new products at the same time as Xiaomi, the company shows its resolution to be independent.
“Huami aspires to challenge the giants of this market and launch products that can communicate with the future,” said Huang Wang at the launch meeting, founder and CEO of Huami.
The company maintains its focus on health-tracking functions within the smart tech sector. Huang Wang emphasizes health services as a key feature of wearable technology. With enhanced health monitoring functions in its smartwatches, Huami targets both fitness enthusiasts as well as middle-aged and elderly consumers.
The Amazfit Health Watch is a new addition to Huami’s smartwatch line that seeks to “establish a new category of health-monitoring smartwatches.” Featuring 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, the device provides real-time reporting of heart abnormality. Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology enables the watch to independently network without connecting to a cell phone via bluetooth. The other newly released product, Amazfit Verge 2, updates Huami’s flagship smartwatch with more comprehensive functions that include health and fitness tracking as well as electronic payments.
Both of Huami’s new watches run on the company’s self-designed “Huangshan” chip. Huangshan is the first AI chip in the wearable technology sector to utilize biometric data screening to improve accuracy and efficiency of heart health monitoring. The company intends to gain a foothold in the sector through hardware research and development.
In an effort to win over the local market, Huami strategically works on localization. The company, for instance, has launched local healthcare service packages to facilitate its health monitoring functions. Under cooperation with Tencent, Huami smartwatch users can enjoy various of Tencent’s principal products such as QQ Music. Huami has likewise established a partnership with Marvel and will soon be rolling out a limited Marvel edition Amazfit Verge 2, which will no doubt attract attention from China’s legions of Marvel fans.
Backed by Xiaomi, Huami has grown rapidly as it has constituted an important component of Xiaomi’s ecosystem. Presently, the company recognizes its reliance on Xiaomi and plans to further develop its own brand. With the launch and ambitious updating of the Amazfit series, Huami can expect increased brand recognition among consumers.
(Photo taken by Simin Li for ATA)