Apple isn’t known for its iPhone’s battery capacities — and Huawei wants to help.
The Chinese phone maker took to the streets outside Singapore’s Apple Store to give out power banks to buyers queuing to be one of the first to get Apple’s newest iPhones.
The event was carried out at 11 p.m. Singapore time the night before Apple opened its doors, Huawei confirmed to CNET in an email. The reason for the friendly handout was to “offer respite from the weather and gruelling wait,” according to a representative, who added that more than 200 of the company’s 10,000 mAh Huawei Supercharge power banks were distributed.
On the cover of the power bank’s packaging is a tagline that reads, “Here’s a power bank. You’ll need it. Courtesy of Huawei.” The move comes after a Facebook post from the day before suggesting the P20 Pro has a “looong-lasting battery.”
It’s not the first time Apple has had competition from Huawei, which surpassed the iPhone maker to become the world’s second biggest phone seller in July. Following Apple’s Sept. 12 event that revealed its new phones, Huawei CEO Richard Yu posted on his Weibo page: “No problem now, see you in London on Oct. 16!”
Huawei users aren’t too happy about the stunt though, with some taking to its Facebook page to criticise the phone maker for gifting the power bank — retailing at S$98 (about $72) — to iPhone users instead of Huawei users.