Huawei launches MateBook two-in-one laptop and tablet

Huawei unveiled a two-in-one laptop and tablet device designed to take on the iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface devices, but the anticipated P9 smartphone failed to make an appearance.

The company had been expected to add to its phone lineup at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, but its pre-show press event concentrated on the latest addition to the tablet lineup.

Dubbed the MateBook, the 12in tablet is powered by a sixth generation Intel CoreM processor and runs Windows 10. Among its accessories are a keyboard cover, a stylus and compact dock that expands the available ports on the device. It also uses the new USBC standard, making it thinner than the rival Surface Pro 4 made by Microsoft.

Outlining some of the most common PC headaches, including poor display, Huawei’s Richard Yu said the company was planning to bring a “new PC world” to consumers.

The device’s MatePen gets around potential accusations of “dumb stylus” by building in a laser pointer and presentation controls.

The MateBook also has a fingerprint reader that allows you to assign different fingerprints to start up different accounts, and an all-in-one compact MateDock.

The tablet has built-in dual speakers with Dolby audio, and a noise cancelling headset that charges through the MateBook.

Intel’s Kirk Skaugen took to the stage to outline the benefits of the device, pinpointing two-in-ones as a fast-growing category, second only to phablets: large screened mobile phones that are a cross between phones and tablets.

“It’s an amazing time for Huawei to be the PC market,” he said. It’s not hard to see why the chip maker is getting enthusiastic about the category. While there are more than a billion PCs over five years old on the market, the two-in-one devices have a faster refresh rate than the more traditional products.

The market for PCs has declined since the shift towards smartphones and tablet took hold, leaving those in the industry slower to catch on to the trend struggling to find a foothold.