Currently, Huawei is the third largest phone manufacturer in the world. The company ships over 50 million smartphones and tablets annually. Most of those sales come from outside of the United States, though, as the company has failed to gain a foothold there. Originally, Huawei planned a huge push into the US market by launching its Mate 10 Pro with carrier support from AT&T, but that plan fell through. Now it’s been revealed Best Buy plans to stop selling the company’s phones within weeks.
What’s going on with Best Buy?
Cnet.com confirmed Best Buy has ceased new orders for Huawei smartphones. The company currently sells devices like the Mate 9, Mate 10 Pro, Honor 8, and others. However, Best Buy made the decision to stop ordering these devices from Huawei. Sales of these devices should cease within the next few weeks. Retailers like Amazon and Newegg, among others, have not announced plans to stop selling Huawei devices. Such a development is extremely bad news for Huawei and its US aspirations.
Best Buy stands out as the only physical retailer to carry Huawei’s smartphones. They can be found in various Best Buy stores and through the company’s websites. Otherwise, consumers would struggle to find another physical location to look at and purchase a Huawei device. Huawei’s smartphones have been sold through Best Buy and BestBuy.com for multiple years now. Losing out on such a huge US retail partner means nothing but bad news for Huawei and could deal lasting damage to the smartphone manufacturer.
Nothing But Bad News in 2018 For Huawei
First, Huawei’s deal with AT&T fell through in the beginning of 2018. Then fears and warnings from the US government hurt the company even further. Few companies in the US want to deal with Huawei for fear of negative publicity. Best Buy could be the first, rather than the last, company to sever ties with Huawei. Sure, Huawei doesn’t need a US presence to remain profitable. The company has still spent years trying to break into the US market with its smartphones, though.
Privacy and security concerns from the US government related to Huawei continue to dog the company. In the United States, a small but dedicated group of consumers remain loyal to the smartphone manufacturer. Most people have a negative view of Huawei thanks to all of the negative publicity this year. The fact the company cannot penetrate the US market is a loss for all Android smartphone users in various ways. Not only are these moves anti-competitive, but consumers lose out on a quality option for smartphones.
