Chinese smartphone manufacturer Nubia Technology launched its latest flagship handset Z40S Pro on Wednesday, in a bid to grab a bigger slice of the mid-range to high-end smartphone market amid intensifying competition from domestic rivals.

The phone comes with a Sony IMX787 sensor paired with a 35mm lens, which it claims will reduce image distortion and improve picture clarity. It has a 64-megapixel primary shooter accompanied with a 50-megapixel ultra-wide snapper and an 8-megapixel telephoto module.

It is equipped with a 6.67-inch flexible AMOLED display, which supports up to a 144Hz refresh rate and 480 Hz touch sampling rate. Priced from 3,399 yuan ($502), the device aims to provide a professional shooting experience for users who love photography and creating videos.

The competition in China's smartphone market is heating up. Smartphone sales in China fell 14.1 percent year-on-year to 74.2 million units in the first quarter of 2022, according to the global market research firm International Data Corporation.

The year of 2022 will be a challenging year as both domestic and overseas' uncertainties are snarling at the market, pushing many smartphone vendors into a more conservative mode, said Will Wong, research manager for client devices at IDC Asia-Pacific.

Domestic smartphone maker Oppo took the lead with a shipment of 13.7 million units in the January-March period, accounting for 18.5 percent market share, followed by Honor and Vivo.