We’ve all of this before right, Huawei has been trying to make a decent footprint in the US smartphone market for quite a while. But so far it looks like they haven’t done well. You might remember back at CES, Huawei announced the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate. Now neither of those have even been rumored to come to the US. Huawei just did their Mobile World Congress press conference a little while ago, and said that the Ascend P2 would be available globally in Q2. Yet there is no word on when or if it’s coming to the US. Last time I checked, Globally means the US too.
Huawei’s Director of Global Brand Management, Amy Lou said at their press conference this morning that Huawei has a philosophy for aggressively pursuing their dream of becoming a major mobile heavyweight, like Samsung, Apple and even Motorola. Huawei use powerful language like “spirited” and “visionary” which signaled a new step for Huawei. One that we hope can bring them to the front of the competition. Huawei went on to say that “we believe we will be as familiar, appealing, as powerful as any name you will see this week in Barcelona.”And continued with “building a global brand takes time, investment and consistency” according to Amy Lou.
It’s now been 10 years since Huawei started making consumer devices. But how well have they done? Well they’ve made some pretty good looking devices, at least in 2013. Now how many of those will be available in the US? Well who knows right now, only time will tell. Huawei also stated today that they are changing from a ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) to an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) with a distinct identity. In 2013, Huawei has been working to make a serious push for premium devices. We’ve already seen the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate at CES last month, and now the Ascend P2 today at Mobile World Congress. All three of these devices have some amazing specs, but availability and pricing will be the factors as to whether or not it’ll be successful. Of course updates is another factor as well.
Huawei has had a tough road, and it’s probably not going to get any easier. Especially when you’re going up against the likes of Samsung and Apple which have huge market shares not just in the US but worldwide. But it’s not something Huawei can’t do. We’re hoping Huawei can become a real contender especially here in the US. For the most part, all you’ve seen in the US from Huawei has been cheap low-end phones, mostly for prepaid carriers. We are desperately hoping that changes. The Android market needs more competition to keep Samsung from running away with their market share.