The new flagship smartphones recently unveiled by China-based handset vendors Huawei and Lenovo aim to enhance their presence in the high-end smartphone segment, according to industry sources.

Huawei's new flagship model, the Ascend Mate 7, unveiled at IFA 2014 recently, features a 6-inch 1,080p Full HD IPS display, HiSilicon Kirin 925 8-core CPU, 13-megapixel camera and a 4,100mAh battery.

The Ascend Mate 7 with 2GB RAM/ 16GB ROM will be priced at EUR499 (US$626), while a 3GB RAM/ 32GB ROM version will be available for EUR599, making the highest priced smartphone ever launched by Huawei.

Lenovo's new flagship model, the Vibe Z2 Pro, comes with a 6-inch 490 ppi IPS display fixed in a flat metallic case, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, 16-megapixel real-facing camera and a 4,000 mAh battery, priced at CNY4,799 (US$781).

The move by Huawei and Lenovo is to challenge Apple and Samsung Electronics in the high-end smartphone segment, said industry sources in Taiwan's handset supply chain.

However, Huawei and Lenovo are to face a bumpy road as they strive into the high-end segment because their brand images both lag far behind that of Apple and Samsung, commented the sources.