The IT Nerd

Huawei is reportedly going to give up on selling its products and services in the United States due to Washington’s accusations that the company has ties to the Chinese government:

Huawei’s tactics are changing as its business prospects in the United States have darkened considerably. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to proceed with a new rule that could effectively kill off what little business the company has in the United States. Although the proposed rule does not mention Huawei by name, it would block federally subsidized telecommunications carriers from using suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security. Huawei’s latest moves suggest that it has accepted that its political battles in the United States are not ones it is likely to win. “Some things cannot change their course according to our wishes,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s deputy chairman, said at the company’s annual meeting with analysts on Tuesday. “With some things, when you let them go, you actually feel more at ease.”

That’s an enlightened view of things. I guess they’re going to go off, lick their wounds and wait for Donald Trump to be out of office to try entering the US again. One wonders if ZTE who is also in the crosshairs of a lot of people will do the same?

Both CNBC and CNET are reporting that Best Buy will be parting ways with Huawei and won’t be selling their phones in their stores. This comes after AT&T and Verizon backed away from dealing with the Chinese phone maker.

This continues a pattern of pressure from the US government to keep Huawei out of the market due to spying concerns. And you know that this will really hurt as Best Buy is everywhere in the US and not having access to their stores will make it difficult for Huawei to get any traction in the US. But it also brings up another question. Huawei has a presence in Canada both on the retail side, and with telcos buying their gear. One wonders if that will start to change if the US continues to go down this path.

Well this looks a wee bit shady.

Huawei has been caught by 9to5Google.com apparently trading their new and cool Mate 10 Pro phone for five star reviews on Best Buy’s website. Here’s the kicker, the phone doesn’t go on sale until Sunday in the US. So this appears to be astroturfing:

The phone is only up for pre-order so far, and yet 108 people have left glowing “reviews” of the phone on its Best Buy listing. Almost all of the reviews are a solid 5-stars, saying it is the “unbeatable smart phone of the year,” a “great new flagship phone,” and even a device that “puts Samsung to shame.”

If you don’t look a little closer, you might think that the phone genuinely has lots of buzz and excited customers. It would certainly be easy to be misled by the small 5-star review that shows on the listing page and in search results, as well as the reassuring (108) number right next to it. Unfortunately, nothing here is what is seems.

So why are all of these people are so ecstatic about a phone they haven’t even used yet? It turns out Huawei posted to a private Facebook group asking its 60,000 members to post “why they WANT to own the Mate 10 Pro” on the review section at Best Buy’s website. We managed to get a screenshot of the post which you can see below.

#EpicFail

I have to wonder if this tactic is in response to what happened recently where they were pretty much shut out of partnering with Verizon because of spying concerns? Whatever the reason, now that the cat is out of the bag, the optics really doesn’t look good for Huawei.

Imagine you’re Chinese phone maker Huawei for a second. You fly into Vegas for CES, and you’re all set to announce that you’re partnering with AT&T to sell phones in the US. But at the very last minute you find out that the deal is off because  AT&T pulled out of the deal at the last minute. And according to Reuters politicians nixed the deal citing security concerns:

AT&T was pressured to drop the deal after members of the U.S. Senate and House intelligence committees sent a letter on Dec. 20 to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) citing concerns about Huawei’s plans to launch consumer products through a major U.S. telecom carrier.

The letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, which was signed by 18 lawmakers, noted concerns about Chinese companies in the U.S. telecommunications industry.

The letter notes the committee’s concerns “about Chinese espionage in general, and Huawei’s role in that espionage in particular.” A copy of the letter was seen by Reuters.

This isn’t the first time that Huawei has been involved in something like this as accusations of spying for China have been in the air for years. Take this example from 2013. But because of these latest accusations, Huawei has gone to selling their phones “only through open channels” meaning not through US carriers. They also rebuff the security concerns:

Huawei’s Washington-based spokesman William Plummer said on Tuesday that “privacy and security are always our first priority.”

“We are compliant with the world’s most stringent privacy protection frameworks and requirements and have gained the trust of over 150 million customers in the past year alone,” Plummer said in an email.

Huawei faces an uphill battle. Besides the PR related issues, not a lot of Americans buy phones through “open channels”. Instead they buy them through carriers. Thus not having a carrier deal really limits their growth in the US. Until they can completely address these spying accusations, they’re likely not to be a challenger in the US market.

Huawei has announced the launch of the new HUAWEI P10 and P10+. These are innovative and stylish smartphones that are co-engineered with Leica, which bring professional studio-like effects to enhance portrait photography. Through a special partnership with Pantone Color Institute, the devices are introduced in the latest on-trend colours, specially optimized for their unique Hyper Diamond-Cut finish. Complemented by cutting edge technological innovations inside, including Huawei SuperCharge, HUAWEI P10 and P10+ are the most advanced photography smartphones available.

For the first time in a smartphone, HUAWEI P10 and P10+ feature a Leica front camera, to complement their Leica Dual rear camera. By utilising the world’s most advanced photographic technology to create modern artistic portraits in Leica’s signature image style, the HUAWEI P10 and P10+ include tools of an artistic studio. With features including studio-like re-lighting and 3D facial detection technology, beautiful photography can be taken in any environment.

The new front camera captures perfect portrait photography in Leica image style whilst the rear camera captures facial features with incredible detail. Huawei’s Hybrid Zoom is an additional feature that allows users to focus in on specific areas of an image while still keeping the sharpness of image quality.

As well as redefining portrait photography through the latest photographic technologies, the HUAWEI P10 and P10+ set a new standard in colour and design. Co-created with Pantone Color Institute, the devices launch in two specially selected Pantone colours: PANTONE Greenery, the official PANTONE Colour of the Year 2017, and a captivating deep blue shade which Huawei is offering as Dazzling Blue.

The result of hours of careful craftsmanship and cross-collaboration between Huawei and Pantone Color Institute is two colourways which have been specially optimised for the surface and texture of the HUAWEI P10 and P10+ to deliver smartphones that are as beautiful to look at as they are to use. Greenery delivers a clean and stylish sandblast finish, whilst the unique Hyper Diamond-Cut in Dazzling Blue is brought to life through a stunning glow effect. To complement these unique colourways, the HUAWEI P10 and P10+ are also available in a selection of other colours including Ceramic White, Dazzling Gold, Prestige Gold, Graphite Black, Rose Gold and Mystic Silver.

As part of the Huawei P series, the HUAWEI P10 and P10+ feature an ultra slim, minimalistic form with rounded curves. The high-quality design extends to its high-performance functions which include super-fast charging, thanks to Huawei’s proprietary SuperCharge technology.

Prices and availability remain unannounced at this time.