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STORY: Huawei started selling new, highly anticipated smartphones on Thursday.

Two models from its high-end Pura 70 series were snapped up by customers in China.

Analysts expect the device to contain an advanced China-made chip, similar to Huawei's Mate 60 handset, which launched last year.

On its release, the Mate 60 was celebrated by Chinese state media as a win over U.S. sanctions on Huawei.

Its advanced chip is seen as just a few generations behind cutting-edge semiconductors used by U.S. giants like Apple and Google.

The starting price for the Pura 70 series is around $760.

Two separate versions known as the Pro and Ultra were out of stock at Huawei's online store just a minute after the sales started.

Hundreds of the brand's fans lined up at Huawei flagship stores across the country in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The launch of the Mate 60 Pro last August led to a spike in Huawei's smartphone sales, and analysts say the trend looks set to continue.

According to research firm Counterpoint, Huawei saw unit sales rise by 64% year-on-year over the first six weeks of 2024.

Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone sales in China fell almost a quarter during the same period.