NAIROBI, June 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Huawei on Wednesday launched a new smart phone in the Kenyan market amid rising demand for affordable but high quality mobile devices among the east African country's middle classes.

Steven Li, head of Huawei Mobile in Kenya, said the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 that will retail at 25,000 shillings (about 250 U.S dollars), is tailor-made for increasingly sophisticated consumers.

"Kenya is growing tremendously when it comes to technology as smartphones have become a necessity. Smartphone users continue to focus on specifications along with brand perception and quality," said Li.

This factor has contributed to Huawei improving the smartphone experience through investing in higher storage, larger screen size and better camera resolution, among others, he added.

Li said that Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 whose unique features include 3D curved design, sapphire blue exterior color and pop-up selfie camera, is expected to resonate with Kenyan middle class consumers.

The new Huawei smartphone has advanced artificial intelligence (AI) feature that can capture up to 22 scenes while its large battery can sustain about 12 hours of 4G browsing.

Li said that Huawei is leveraging on innovation, research and development to enhance quality of its smartphones and improve their visibility in the Kenyan market.

"We are investing heavily in innovation and are glad to be contributing heavily to the ever growing smartphone usage in Kenya," said Li, adding that demand for Huawei smartphones in the Kenyan market increased by 50 percent in 2018.

Derrick Alenga, training manager of Huawei Mobile Kenya, said that Huawei Y9 Prime 2019, which has advanced features like abundant internal memory, 91 percent screen to body ratio and unique lighting effects, will offer quality and durable service to local consumers across the socio-economic divide.

"We can guarantee quality of this device to our consumers in the Kenyan market," said Alenga.