Every so often, smartphone makers release special editions of their flagship handsets, whether to try to capture a piece of the popularity of a person or major trend or to commemorate a major event. In some cases, smartphone makers team up with another major brand to create a special edition version, like the Huawei KFC phone. No, that’s not a typo. Huawei really is teaming up with U.S.-based KFC on a special edition of its Enjoy 7 Plus designed to mark the fast food chain’s 30th anniversary in China.
30 years of KFC in China
KFC, which is owned by Yum! Brands, announced the special edition Huawei phone on its Weibo page. It may seem a bit strange that Huawei would put out a KFC-branded phone at all, but especially in China, given that KFC is a U.S. brand. However, the fast food chain is hugely popular in China, and it’s the largest restaurant chain in the country thousands of locations.
The Huawei KFC phone commemorates the fast food chain’s 30 years of business in China, as its first location opened in Beijing in 1987. In addition to how popular the KFC brand is among the Chinese, it was also the first Western fast food chain to open up a location there. KFC has been through a lot in China these past several years, but it certainly has a lot to celebrate now, given that it appears to have weathered the storm caused by food handling allegations levied against its suppliers in China, among other issues.
Features and specs of the Huawei KFC phone
Not only do the Chinese love KFC’s food, but they also love their smartphones, which is probably where the marketing idea for the Huawei KFC phone came from. The Chinese also love the color red, which is seen as a sign of luck or good fortune, and luckily for KFC, much of its logo is done in red. As a result, it should come as no surprise that the Huawei KFC phone is red.
The phone is a special edition of the Huawei Enjoy 7 Plus, a mid-range smartphone that can only be bought in certain markets. It features a 5.5-inch screen with a 720p resolution and runs on a Snapdragon 435 chip. It sports a 12-megapixel camera, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The back of the phone features a fingerprint sensor, and an image of Colonel Sanders and the KFC logo has been laser-etched into the back.
Huawei plans to only make 5,000 of these smartphones, and they also come with 10,000 of KFC’s digital currency called K dollars, which it uses in China. The phone also comes with a special music app pre-installed that enables users to play music in the restaurants. It will only be available in China, although some may re-sell a few of the handsets in other markets, targeting collectors with a marked-up price.
