[THE INVESTOR] China’s smartphone producer Huawei Technologies recently won approval from a Korean technology certification agency for the Nova Lite 2, industry watchers said on July 9, paving the way for the device’s launch here.

The Telecommunication Technologies Association approved the Nova Lite 2 smartphone, which will become the first unlocked Huawei smartphone to be released in Korea. The official release is expected around August, observers said.

The Nova Lite 2 comes with a 5.65-inch display and 8-megapixel front-facing selfie camera, along with 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel dual rear cameras. The battery capacity stands at 3,000 mAh.

Other Asian tech giants are also setting eyes on South Korea, with Japan’s Sharp releasing the Aquos S3 through SK Telecom last month. The phone features 13-megapixel and 12-megapixel dual main cameras.

Xiaomi also plans to showcase the Redmi Note 5 in Korea later this month, with BlackBerry joining the race by moving to release KEY2 through a mobile virtual network operator here.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)