Huawei is the third largest smartphone brand globally, and yet, it has little presence in the U.S., and that presence is about to get smaller following a few big announcements surrounding the brand over the past few months, the most recent being that Best Buy has decided to stop selling Huawei products, which includes smartphones, smartwatches and other devices that you could find at its retail stores and on its website. This was after both AT&T and Verizon both reportedly pulled the plug on carrying Huawei’s flagship smartphones amid concerns over national security and rumored political pressure.
With Best Buy now pulling the plug on Huawei as a retail partner, Huawei will be left to work with retailers like Amazon and other smaller retailers, but for the time being it seems there will soon be nowhere else to go to physically see and buy a Huawei smartphone or some of its other products. Huawei sees this as a disservice to the U.S. consumer because its phones are competitive and stylish, and offer and a great deal of the same features and powerful specs that you can find in other top flagship brands. This isn’t too far off, as Huawei’s best products are top-notch, and they come with striking designs and really good software.
That said it truly is unfortunate that Huawei has come up against so many hurdles recently in its attempts to enter the U.S. market. Though you can still find some of its products online, and you can always import its top-tier devices, the devices you can officially find online in the U.S. aren’t generally its top-tier products, and importing them likely means they won’t have full compatibility with U.S. networks, so consumers are left with less choice here. This doesn’t necessarily spell the end for Huawei in its U.S. entry endeavors, but it’s certainly going to be a lot more challenging. Should retailers be sticking to their brand partnerships and selling Huawei’s devices?