I’ve said it once this year and I’ll say it again: 2016 is a very Pixelly year and you would think any company would love to be associated with it. The Google Pixel phones were made by HTC, but there has been many rumours regarding Huawei and their refusal to build the Pixels. A Huawei executive has now gone on the record stating that Huawei did in fact turn down the opportunity to build the best Android smartphone ever.
Colin Giles, Vice President of the Consumer Business Group, maker of all Huawei smartphones spoke to German site WinFuture about the Huawei decision. He explained that Huawei did not want to act as a contractor but would rather continue to build their own brand/name. We know that the actual manufacturer of the device is noted nowhere at all on the Pixels and this is what Huawei had an issue with. For this reason Huawei did not enter into any sort of contract with Google to make the Pixel phones.
Giles went on to say that Google will eventually establish themselves as an independent supplier in the marketplace, but for some reason he did not see them as direct competition. There was no comment on any future collaborations but it seems unlikely given Huawei’s understandable stance on their branding and Google’s desire to be seen as the hardware manufacturer of their devices.
To me it makes sense that Huawei turned down Google. Huawei do not need Google. They sell a LOT of phones worldwide and they continue to make high quality hardware devices. In the end the result turned out well for all involved with the Pixel widely acclaimed as the best Android device around and by some to be the best smartphone experience full stop.
