Huawei Executive Confirms Lack of Branding as Reason for Declining Pixel Production

The HTC-made Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL are fiercely marketed under the “Phone By Google” campaign. Since Google did exert a heavy influence on the design and continues to put forth large budgets on marketing and advertising the Pixels, mores so than it did for any Nexus so far, we would not blame the average user if they did not know that HTC is actually manufacturing the devices.

And that is exactly why Huawei declined to produce the Pixels. Back in October, reports originated that Huawei was apparently Google’s first choice for producing the Pixel duo. Talks originated between Google and Huawei for the production of three devices, but the parties could not come to any agreement on the same. Google then had to approach HTC for the manufacture of the Pixel, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Huawei Executive Colin Giles, speaking to WinFuture, confirmed the reports on Huawei being given the opportunity. He also mentions that the reason why an agreement could not be reached is because it was unacceptable for the company to produce a device with no influence on the branding or promotional material. Huawei wished to expand its brand presence in the US market as noted in earlier reports, so the lack of branding would have created little awareness of the brand within the average consumer. Huawei had also decided some years ago that it would not be a contract-job OEM for other brands to ride on, so Google’s demands of a Google-heavy smartphone were not in line with Huawei’s vision.

Is this the end of the road for Huawei-Google? Apparently not. Huawei continues to insist on its partnership with Google, and leaks have pointed that the company is in line to produce the hardware for the upcoming 7″ tablet that will feature Google’s unannounced Andromeda OS. We will have to see whether Huawei has budged from its position and given in to Google branding, or if Google has relaxed its demands for the partnership.

Would you have preferred a Huawei-made Google Pixel? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: WinFuture