The Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Huawei may be the third largest phone maker in the world, but the company still doesn’t have a significant market presence in the United States. Nonetheless, the company’s recent announcement pertaining to the Huawei Mate 9 officially coming to the US was met with a lot of attention. This flagship smartphone boasts some impressive specs that could certainly challenge high-end Android phones currently available in the country, but that probably won’t happen. Namely, while the Mate 9 will indeed launch in the US in the coming months, Huawei will have trouble showcasing it to consumers as the US wireless carriers aren’t terribly excited by the idea of working with the Chinese OEM.
Given how wireless service providers distribute over 80% of all smartphones in the United States, their unwillingness to cooperate with Huawei is bound to hurt the company’s expansion ambitions. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the likes of Verizon and AT&T are troubled by security concerns related to Huawei, as well as the company’s low brand recognition in the United States. Four years ago, US Congress recommended local carriers to not use Huawei’s telecom equipment due to security concerns, specifically pointing out the possibility that Beijing could use it to spy on American citizens. Not surprisingly, Huawei shunned these accusations, but that still hasn’t stopped carriers from heeding the advice written in the said congressional report.
Huawei currently holds less than half a percentage point of the US smartphone market, so carriers’ concerns about low brand recognition certainly aren’t without basis. On the other hand, it’s not surprising that the Chinese OEM is looking to launch the Mate 9 in the US given how this is the largest market for high-end smartphones in the world. The Huawei Mate 9 retails in Europe for €699, so its expected price tag in the United States will probably amount to around $750.
While the Chinese phone maker still hasn’t disclosed the price or specific US release date for the Mate 9, the company seemingly isn’t discouraged by all of the obstacles its expansion is facing. As Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s smartphone division stated in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, building trust in the United States will take time, but he’s confident Huawei will manage to do it. This is yet another step in the company’s plan to overtake Apple and Samsung as the leading smartphone vendor in the world, which it’s currently planning to do by 2021.