Huawei is finally entering the US market after achieving success in many Asian countries.
Its flagship device, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro will be available as an unlocked phone for $799 starting in mid-February. This will be sold at the biggest retailers in the US such as Best Buy, Amazon and Newegg.
There’s a major difference in how US consumers buy smartphones compared to those in Asia. They prefer purchasing through carriers or telcos. This is similar to post-paid plans offered by Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular here in the Philippines.
Hence, Huawei sought a partnership with AT&T and Verizon in the US, two of the biggest carriers there. However, AT&T cancelled the deal and the latter is facing political pressure to do the same.
The US government has concerns regarding the security of these devices.
Even if the deals with carriers wouldn’t push through, Huawei is already gearing up promotions to make the brand name recognizable in the US.
They tapped Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman as its Chief Experience Officer. She is a Huawei phone user herself and also has the same challenge of having a difficult to pronounce name as the company.
Despite the concerns of the US government, the Huawei Mate Pro actually has a big security feature. It’s powered by the Kirin 970 processor that has a dedicated Artificial Intelligence chip. This works offline which means it doesn’t need to connect to the internet for AI functions.
I’ve reviewed several Huawei smartphones including the Huawei Mate 10 and I found them fantastic for their prices.
Hopefully, Huawei will be successful in the US. This will provide pressure to Apple and Samsung to further improve their offers as the biggest challenger is coming.
