Chinese tech giant Huawei has entered the notebook market in South Africa, with the launch of its MateBook X notebook, and a two-in-one laptop, the MateBook E.

The devices are aimed at the top end of the market and Huawei hopes to compete with Dell, Lenovo and HP, and to a smaller extent Apple.

Huawei's MateBook X is the first ultrabook from the manufacturer. It is a lightweight fanless 13-inch notebook with splash-proof screen and combined fingerprint sign-on and power button, priced between R23 999 and R25 999.

Huawei says the MateBook X's battery can last up to 10 hours on one charge. It has 8GB of RAM and a 512GB hard drive which runs a 2K display.

The MateBook E is an ultra-slim, metallic 13-inch notebook that features a detachable screen that becomes a tablet. It will sell for R19 999. The MateBook E is the second two-in-one from the company; the first never made it to SA.

The laptops feature a fifth- or seventh-generation Intel Core m-series processor and Windows 10 productivity tools, such as Cortana, Microsoft's digital personal assistant.

Overall, PC market sales volumes dropped 8.3% in 2015 and a further 3.7% in 2016, according to research firm Gartner, which has predicted a flat outcome this year and increasing market consolidation through 2020.

At the international launch of the notebooks at an event in Berlin in February, the company said: "From Huawei's perspective, we see opportunities in the PC market's decline."

It said its investment in the PC industry is long-term, not only in marketing but in R&D.