Android Police: ‘Huawei Passed on Chance to Produce Pixel Phones, U.S. Division Badly Struggling’

David Ruddock, writing for Android Police:

Fast-forward shortly after the Nexus 5X and 6P launched, and Google began talks with Huawei to produce its 2016 smartphone portfolio - allegedly up to three phones, not just the two we ended up with. It’s unclear if they would have been branded Pixel, Nexus, or both (e.g., two Pixels and a cheaper Nexus). Google, though, set a hard rule for the partnership: Huawei would be relegated to a manufacturing role, producing phones with Google branding. The Huawei logo and name would be featured nowhere on the devices’ exteriors or in their marketing, much like the Pixel phones built by HTC that we’ll see unveiled tomorrow. According to our source, word spread inside Huawei quickly that global CEO Richard Yu himself ended negotiations with Google right then and there. Huawei was off the table for the new smartphones. Google’s “plan B” — HTC — ended up winning the contract.

It speaks to how far HTC has fallen that they’re now accepting a position akin to that of Foxconn — simply a manufacturer.

★ Wednesday, 5 October 2016