A few months ago, when leaks emerged, claiming that HTC would be manufacturing phones for devices under the Google branding, everyone were surprised. What happened to LG and Huawei (who manufactured the Nexus 5X and 6P in the previous year).
You could say that LG had partnered with Google, for the LG V20, which became the first non-Google device to run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Huawei’s partnership with the search giant, however, was a mystery. A couple of months ago, Evan Blass (aka evleaks), hinted that a Huawei Nexus 7 tablet could be launched by the end of this year.
The man is rarely off the mark, but with the launch of the Pixel devices, we don’t think that could happen. We can’t say for sure, but what is more important here, is that Huawei may see Google’s Pixel branding as a competitor to its own business. German blogger, Roland Quandt, interviewed Colin Giles, an Executive at Huawei, and he confirmed in an interview ( at WinFuture), that Huawei had refused to manufacture the Pixel phones, under Google’s branding. In case you didn’t know, the Pixel and the Pixel XL, are manufactured by HTC, and are sold without the Taiwan OEM’s brand or logo. They are promoted as Made by Google.
This is the thing which Huawei didn’t like, and the reason behind it makes sense. While Google wanted to have more say in the design of the phone, and embed it’s own software and UI in the Pixel, Huawei felt that as a contracted manufacturer, it would gain no recognition for its own brand. Also, Huawei does sell its own flagship devices like the Huawei P9, the recently launched Huawei Mate 9, and its subsidiary brand, Honor’s budget friendly flagship devices like the Honor 8. If it had gone with the Pixel, Huawei’s own sales might have taken a hit too, in addition with facing a difficult task of establishing its own brand.
Giles had also said that Google and Huawei still remain good partners, but It remains to be seen whether they will collaborate for a new phone or tablet, in the future.