Huawei builds Sonic smartphone for Woolworths

Announces Australian board of directors.

Huawei has revealed it is creating a "low-$200s outright" Android-based smartphone it will sell exclusively through Woolworths-owned retailers.

The vendor said today the handset, codenamed Sonic, would have a 3.5" screen and run the Gingerbread version of Google's Android operating system.

"It will be exclusive to Dick Smith, Woolworths and Big W," Huawei Australia's devices marketing director Mark Treadwell said.

Huawei also planned another addition to its burgeoning Ideos handset range with the X1 – a supercheap Android-powered smartphone that would be priced in the "low one hundreds" of dollars.

The vendor announced the higher-end Ideos X5 in Australia last month and also touted a forthcoming Ideos X3 handset that would also be priced "sub-$200", according to Treadwell.

Huawei also said today it was working on some "variants" to its tablet range this year. The most well-known product in that range was the S7, which Telstra had re-branded as its T-Touch Tab.

"We've learned a lot about what people wanted from tablets and the good and bad points [from the S7]," Treadwell said.

"We're now looking at variants and we're obviously talking to all Australian operators about that."

The vendor also planned enhancements to its Pocket WiFi dongles, including support for the device-to-device home streaming standard DLNA, and multi-SSID capabilities.

Meanwhile, Huawei will create an Australian board of directors to run its local business.

The Chinese networking vendor said today it had engaged Egon Zehnder to locate prospects for the board.

The board's make-up was expected to be announced in about two months.