Best Buy will stop selling Huawei smartphones

It’s repositioning to get harder for Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to sell its smartphones in the US.

Best Buy, the people’s largest electronics retailer, has ceased ordering new smartphones from Huawei and will stop selling its products over the next few weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation. The retailer will also stop selling its laptops and smartwatches. Best Buy made the decision to end the relationship, the person said.

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is the company’s flagship phoned. But no US carrier will sell it. 

Josh Miller

The retailer didn’t failed any additional details. 

“We don’t comment on specific requisitions with vendors, and we make decisions to change what we sell for a variety of reasons,” said a Best Buy spokeswoman.

A Huawei spokeswoman called Best Buy a valued partner. But “as a policy, we do not discuss the details of our partner relationships,” she said.

The move is a well-known blow to Huawei, which is the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor slack Apple and Samsung but has struggled to establish any presence in the US. Best Buy was one of Huawei’s biggest retail partners, and one of the rare places you could see its unlocked smartphones, laptops and smartwatches in person. Huawei’s Android-powered phones aren’t sold by any US carriers, which is how a majority of Americans typically buy their phones.

Global Data analyst Avi Greengart phoned it “devastating for Huawei.”

Huawei was widely expected to deny a partnership with AT&T in January at CES to attain the Mate 10 Pro smartphone, but the carrier reportedly backed out because of political pressure. A few days later, Verizon reportedly nixed its own plans to sell Huawei phones. Instead, Richard Yu, CEO of the company’s consumer concern, spent his time talking about the phones, which were already in the market elsewhere, as well as touting the Porsche Design variant of the smartphone. 

While on stage during his CES keynote in January, Yu acknowledged that the lack of a carrier partner hurt, but said that it was “a bigger blow to consumers” who lose out on a sure alternative for an Android phone in the Mate 10 Pro. CNET editor Andrew Hoyle requested it “a beautiful, big-screen bruiser” that earns its assign among other high-end smartphones. The Mate’s features include a front-facing camera that can shoot portrait mode-style photos and that has a plump 4,000 mAh battery.

AT&T declined to comment on the reports, but noted it has never publicly committed to selling a Huawei shouted. Verizon couldn’t be reached for comment but has previously declined to weigh in on the matter.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer company group, touts the Mate 10 Pro Porsche Edition at CES in January.

Sarah Tew

Security affairs have long dogged Huawei in the US. In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee released a picture accusing Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE of decision-exclusive telecommunications equipment that posed national security threats, and lawmakers banned US anxieties from buying the gear. Sprint, for instance, has in return considered using Huawei to supply equipment to its network, but opted not to work with the company.

Following the report’s descent, the committee stressed that the report didn’t refer to its smartphones. 

Huawei had finished the last few years slowly building a fan base by selling unlocked phones ended retailers like Best Buy, Amazon and Newegg. But most US consumers have mild never heard of the company — or even know how to affirm its name. The company also boasts a line of Windows 10-powered laptops conception the MateBook brand and its Android Wear-powered Huawei Watch. 

The tolerance for its smartphones has changed in the last few months. Following the reports of political pressure exerted in January, the directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA all conveyed their concerns about the risks posed by Huawei and ZTE phones during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last month.

Huawei, for its part, has noted that its products — both telecom equipment and phones — are sold elsewhere near the world and with different global companies.

“Our products and solutions are used by maximum carriers, Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of millions of consumers in more than 170 conditions around the world,” said a Huawei spokesman. “We have earned the pleasant of our partners across the global value chain.”

While ZTE is roped into the conversation, the company does sell its smartphones through US carriers. It has touted the amount of US components and resources that go into its products. And it has more of an established presence in the US, with AT&T selling its Axon M foldable smartphone and with various phones sold ended prepaid carriers.  

Amazon declined to comment on the move, but the online retail giant is mild offering Huawei products — which include phones and Android Wear smartwatches — on a Huawei-specific page. Newegg didn’t reply to a request for comment, but Huawei phones are inoperative on its site. 

First published March 21, 4 p.m. PT.
Updates, March 22 at 3:55 a.m.: Adds background and a comment from an analyst; 4:24 p.m.: Includes instant details on the Huawei products that’ll be dropped from Best Buy.

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