Electronics company Huawei is looking to expand its market in the US. The Chinese manufacturer is set to launch its high-end Mate 9 smartphone though there's no given release date yet. However, Huawei may still have to win over US Mobile carriers. Their flagship device is expected to be available only through retailers.
Though Huawei is enjoying a growing success globally, it is yet to break into the market in the US. It seems that its biggest obstacle is the lack of support from US mobile carriers. The company has not overcome the challenge of their planned expansion in the country. Their latest high-end smartphone Mate 9 might be sold instead through US retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart, according to the Digital Trends.
Huawei has not announced the price of the device and its release date in the US. It will be sold in Europe for €699. That amounts to $760 USD, according to the International Business Times. Considering that mobile carriers actually distribute over 80 percent of smartphones in the US, Huawei needs to win over them. The Chinese smartphone maker lags behind Samsung and Apple in terms of shipments.
The Wall Street Journal reported that there are reasons why mobile carriers continue to shun Huawei. It does not have the same high brand recognition as other more popular smartphones in the country. The second being, there are security concerns regarding their networking equipment. In fact, the latter was even discussed by the US Congress back in 2012. Apparently, the network equipment might have been compromised. The Chinese government was probably using it to spy on American citizens. Hence, the US Congress advised the carriers to not utilize Huawei's network equipment. Such accusation was denied by the company.
Until to this day, the damage is enough for carriers to not sell Huawei devices. The International Business Times further reported that Huawei's mobile chips don't comply with Verizon and Sprint's cellular standard. Both of which "do not see much reason to add Huawei's phone to their roster of devices", according to the Digital Trends. As for T-Mobile, Huawei is involved in a patent dispute with the mobile carrier. The company's last saving grace is AT&T. It remains to be seen if Huawei can actually struck a good deal.
For Huawei to topple over Samsung and Apple in the smartphone market, it has to be successful in the US. But that is not easy as many Americans are loyal customers of the world's two biggest smartphone makers. Its own high-end and expensive Mate 9 has to compete against the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7. It will be a tough mountain to climb as the two tech companies are set to launch their next flagship devices next year.
