14 DAY TRIAL // Chinese handset manufacturer Huawei and German camera maker Leica have just announced a long-time partnership “to create a powerhouse in the reinvention of smartphone photography.”
The announcement might not seem important at first glance, but if we look at Huawei's previous achievements, it's obvious that the Chinese company is ready to take on Samsung as the world's first mobile vendor.
Huawei has been growing steadily in the last couple of years and has managed to outpace LG, Lenovo and Motorola combined, as well as Xiaomi, to become the world's third smartphone vendor regarding shipments.
Samsung and Apple continue to be undisputed leaders, but Huawei is not far behind, and the new partnership with Leica assures that at least one aspect about their upcoming high-end devices will be covered: cameras.
Leica is expected to take Huawei smartphones “to the next level”
Although the press release issued today does not explicitly say how Leica will help Huawei in their endeavor, it's clear that the Chinese company plans to use advanced optics in its handsets.
“... the traditional German medium-sized company Leica Camera will bring its values and comprehensive expertise in optical engineering to the long-term partnership with Huawei in order to achieve the best possible imaging results in the field of smartphone photography - and to take it to the next level of quality,” said Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, majority shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of Leica Camera AG.
So we're expecting Leica to take Huawei handsets to the next level, and the first one to benefit from the partnership between the two companies might be the P9.
Huawei was one of the few major players in the smartphone business that didn't unveil their flagship devices at MWC 2016.
However, the Huawei P9 will be announced in Q2, and one of the many improvements the smartphone might include is likely to concern the camera.
Is it possible that the P9 will pack Leica optics with advanced photography features? We're not sure, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility.