Huawei has big plans for its Ascend P7 smartphone, as the company's CEO has officially confirmed that a sapphire display-touting variant is en route.

While Huawei may not enjoy the same popularity as top brands such as Apple, Samsung, HTC, or others, the company is nonetheless closely watched by tech enthusiasts. The Huawei Ascend P7, for instance, had leaked extensively before making its official debut back in May, and the handset has proved quite successful since its launch.

Huawei now wants to make its Ascend P7 even more attractive to prospective buyers, and a new variant boasting a sapphire display will make its way to the market soon enough.

Yu Chengdong, Huawei's Device Chairman and Consumer BG CEO, has just shared an exciting image on Weibo, revealing that the Huawei Ascend P7 is ready to launch in a more premium model with sapphire display. The CEO has not offered any details regarding the pricing of this more exclusive variant, but it will most likely cost more than the regular Ascend P7.

The timing of this announcement cannot be ignored, as it comes less than two weeks before the big IFA 2014 trade show kicks off. If the new version of the Huawei Ascend P7 debuts at the show in Berlin in early September, it means that it will be the first smartphone to rock a sapphire display, not counting niche devices such as the rugged Kyocera Brigadier or the luxury Vertu Ti. In other words, the Huawei Ascend P7 may just steal Apple's sapphire display thunder, which played a big part in iPhone 6-related rumors.

Other than the more premium and durable sapphire glass display, the new Huawei Ascend P7 variant is expected to come with identical specifications to the original model. If so, the smartphone should come with a 5-inch full HD display, quad-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a high-end 8-megapixel front shooter for quality selfies and video chats.

Huawei is yet to offer more details regarding when the new Ascend P7 variant will make its official debut, what markets will it hit, or how much it will cost, but the company is expected to provide more information at the IFA 2014 trade show.