Huawei reportedly in talks to sell P Series and Mate Series phone brands

Chinese tech giant Huawei is in early talks to sell its P Series and Mate Series smartphone brands, Reuters said. He cited two people with first-hand knowledge of the matter, who said the company was in negotiations with a consortium of government-backed Shanghai investment firms.

Reuters said the talks began last September, shortly before Huawei confirmed in November that it sell its Honor brand of budget phones. The company has yet to make a final decision on whether it will definitely sell the phone brands, according to the report.

A Huawei spokesperson denied the information, saying in a statement: “Huawei has learned that unfounded rumors are circulating regarding the possible sale of our flagship brands of smartphones. These rumors have no merit. Huawei does not have any merit. plan like this. We remain fully committed to our smartphone business and will continue to deliver premier products and experiences to consumers around the world. “

The Mate and P series are Huawei’s best-selling flagship phone models and have proven to be popular not only in China but around the world. Selling them would see the company completely exit the premium phone market.

The movement would follow growing pressure from the United States, which in recent years has prevented Huawei phones from being widely sold in the country. Sanctions imposed by the United States also mean that as of late 2019, Huawei phones no longer ship with Google services, including the Google Play app store.

Despite the sanctions, the business continued to thrive outside of the United States. Huawei was briefly the No.1 phone maker last year, before losing market share to Samsung and falling back to second at the end of the third quarter, according to IDC.

But restrictions on Huawei’s purchase of U.S.-made components mean the company must stop making its own-brand Kirin chipsets that power its phones. It is believed that Huawei will likely run out of Kirin chip stocks this year.

Numerous sanctions imposed on Huawei were ordered by Donald Trump’s administration, which viewed Huawei as a security threat due to its ties to the Chinese government – something the company has consistently denied. But even with a new president in the White House, there is no guarantee for the company that the United States will change its mind.