By Aimee Chanthadavong

Huawei is looking to “expand its market reach” and has partnered exclusively with Telstra to launch the Ascend P2. This comes two weeks after the Chinese smartphone manufacturer launched the superslim Ascend P6 through Dick Smith and JB Hi-Fi.

To generate interest in Huawei’s smartphone range, the company is embarking on a sizable marketing campaign, incorporating above and below the line activity. Huawei is also the major sponsor of the Canberra Raiders rugby league team.

“We’re investing $2.5 million in this marketing campaign – our biggest in Australia – it is going to be above line and will run for a 4-week period,” said Huawei handset portfolio manager Lorin McDowell.

“We’ll also have online campaigns, which will run for six weeks, and we’ll be active on social media. These strategies will give us quite a broad reach.”

McDowell said Telstra will be the company’s core focus for the Ascend P2, with no plans to launch through past and present channel partners such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.

This 4G Android smartphone features a 1.5GHz processor, is only 8.4-millimetres thick and has a 4.7-inch IPS HD touchscreen (1,280 x 720) with second-generation Corning Gorilla Glass.

Telstra exclusive: Huawei Ascend P6.

The Huawei Ascend P2 will be available in Telstra Stores from 30 July 2013 on a $60 Every Day Connect plan with a $0 handset repayment per month for 24 months. Customers can also purchase the Ascend P2 outright at Telstra Stores for $504.

The previously launched P6 went on sale yesterday (15 July 2013) at Dick Smith and JB Hi-Fi stores for RRP $499. This handset is promoted as the world’s slimmest — it’s 6.88 millimetres thick — and weighs only 120 grams. The trade-off, however, is that is only a 3G device.