As one of the more established and better known smartphone manufacturers from the Far East, it’s still somewhat surprising that Huawei’s devices aren’t more available outside of China. In Europe, Huawei’s devices aren’t exactly readily available, but there are a few models to be found in stores, and the Ascend P6 was a decent device on shelves last summer in the UK. When we talk about the US of course, things are a completely different matter, with the US government still wary of the Chinese firm, worried that either the Chinese government or Chinese hackers are using their hardware to spy on US companies. Huawei strenuously denies all of this and marches on regardless. Spending more money on marketing is the Chinese firm’s next move it’d seem to get their brand known worldwide.
In an interview with Reuters, Shao Yang, Huawei’s Vice President of Consumer Marketing has said that the firm will “spend $300 Million on marketing” in 2014. Rather than sell lots of low-end devices, Huawei is going to be focusing their marketing on positioning themselves as a vendor of high-end smartphones. If you’ve ever had a device from Huawei on a pre-paid carrier or a cheap, unlocked device with the Chinese company’s name on it, you might be wondering how Huawei can do such a thing. The vast majority of customers using, or even considering, a Huawei device might not realize it, but Huawei is very much a company capable of making great devices.
Models like the aforementioned Ascend P6 are good-looking, built out of high-end materials and offer something a lot of consumers want. It’s this side of things that Huawei is keen to promote with their big spend on marketing this year. While we’re not sure what this means for the US, the company has recently opened a US store, where the Ascend Mate 2 (complete with 4G) is available for purchase. Europe and emerging markets might soon see a lot more of Huawei online and on the TV.