Huawei To Continue Building Windows Phone Devices Despite Microsoft Hardware Plans

For a while Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei was in contention to purchase Nokia's hardware business. That's the same hardware business that Microsoft itself ended up purchasing in a bid to get its own smartphone hardware manufacturing operation. In the past, Microsoft hardware partners have taken issue with Microsoft stepping into the hardware realm.

That was particularly true with tablet makers when Microsoft unveiled its unpopular Surface tablets. Huawei apparently has no problem at all with Microsoft getting into the smartphone hardware market. Executives at Huawei said this week that the company would continue to make smartphones running Windows Phone despite Microsoft's own smartphone hardware plans.

Huawei stepped into the Windows Phone market with its Ascend W1 smartphone back in May. In addition to the Chinese manufacturer, Samsung, HTC, and Nokia also make Windows Phone devices. Windows Phone is definitely not the bulk the business for most of those manufacturers with most seeing popularity boom for Android devices as Windows Phone stays relatively stagnant.

Huawei executive Richard Ren said:

We will continue to develop devices running Windows Phone, and launch more products. We remain one of Microsoft's strategic partners.

Ren is the head of Huawei's consumer unit in Europe. The phone manufacturer expects Android devices to continue to be the bulk of its sales. Perhaps slow sales of Windows Phone devices is the main reason most of Microsoft's smartphone hardware partners aren't particularly upset at its hardware plans.

SOURCE: WSJ