Skip to main content

Huawei reportedly passed on the chance to build Google’s Pixel phones

huawei passed on pixel phones nova novaplus 021
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
China’s Huawei is the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it is popular everywhere. In fact, it seems as though the company is having a hard time breaking into the U.S. smartphone market.

Still, the company’s chances at breaking into the U.S. are not being helped by the fact that it passed on an opportunity to be the manufacturer behind Google’s 2016 smartphones. According to reports, the plans broke down when Google demanded Huawei’s logo not be on the new phones. However, drama was brewing far before that.

Recommended Videos

Huawei and Google first partnered in 2015 for the Google Nexus 6P — a phone that was marketed quite a bit more than previous Nexus phones. Initially, Google seems to have sold Huawei on the idea the phone would be stocked by all four major carriers, giving the company a chance to be seen on stores around the U.S. — seriously helping in its mission to break in to the U.S. market. The deal also included that Google and Huawei would launch a nine-figure ad campaign, with the agreement the companies would each match the other’s advertising budget.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

You may have noticed, however, that none of that happened — the phone did not end up being sold directly by any major carrier. That is supposedly because Google ended up demanding that the device be a Google Play Store exclusive phone for a period of time and then sold through retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.

After the whole Nexus 6P debacle, Google started talks for the 2016 smartphone lineup, approaching Huawei once again, this time with a serious condition — the Huawei logo cannot be on the device. According to reports, once Google mentioned this condition, Huawei immediately ended talks with the company and HTC — Google’s ‘Plan B’ — ended up with the contract.

Incidentally, the Pixel phones are the phones with the massive marketing campaigns — and they will be sold by carriers. Meanwhile, Huawei still has not made much headway in the U.S. market. Still, the partnership between Google and Huawei remains strong, according to reports and the companies are working on other projects together. Even more interesting is that the two companies may be working on a midrange phone for 2017, so we could yet see more phone built in partnership by the two companies.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
The Fitbit app needs work — here’s how Google could fix it
A demonstration of the new running features for the Google Pixel Watch 3 in the Fitbit app.

It’s been 14 years since Fitbit launched to market and kickstarted a journey that would lead to over 120 million users. That journey hit new heights four years ago when Google acquired the company for $2.1 billion, but it took almost three years for the Fitbit magic to spread to Google’s hardware lineup.

The result is the Pixel Watch 3, launched alongside the Pixel 9 series last year. It’s one of my favorite health devices from last year and it deserves its position on the best smartwatch list as it has the best heart rate monitoring of any smartwatch made by a phone maker.

Read more
MagSafe-like charging will come to Google and Samsung phones this year
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Google and Samsung phones will be receiving Qi2 wireless charging, the answer to Apple's MagSafe wireless charging, this year.

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) said in a press release ahead of CES 2025 on Monday that the "acceleration" of native Qi2 wireless charging support will be rolling out to more Android phones throughout the year, including the Samsung Galaxy and Google's Pixel line of phones. Both flagship companies confirmed their intentions to program Qi2 into their respective devices.

Read more
5 things that could change smartphones forever in 2025
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.

It’s been a phenomenal year in phones, and competition has never been so fierce in every market segment. For the affordable bracket, the Google Pixel 8a was joined by the Nothing Phone 2a and OnePlus 12R, while the premium segment saw the launch of several excellent phones, like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 Plus, and the OnePlus 12.

Then there are ultra-premium phones and foldables, two categories that Samsung has long dominated in the U.S. However, the company now faces more competition at home and abroad than ever. Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 Ultra in January, but it was the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that posed the biggest challenge. In the U.S., Google launched the fantastic Pixel 9 Pro Fold, while outside the U.S., Honor unveiled the Magic V3.

Read more