Huawei’s U.S. dreams dwindle as retailer pulls phones

Late last year, it looked like the company would march into the U.S. with a presence on carrier lineups and a big-budget advertising campaign. Neither of those expectations panned out for Huawei. Because of pressure from the U.S. government, ATT and Verizon backed away from selling the Mate 10 Pro to their customers.

ATT actually decided to end its partnership just hours before Huawei’s big CES 2018 announcement. Meanwhile, Verizon quietly made its decision in the following weeks when lawmakers had a chat with company executives.

Because contracts with vendors are private, the electronics retailer didn’t offer many details on why Huawei’s products are getting pulled. A Best Buy spokesperson said changes are made “for a variety of reasons.” The same type of language was used by a Huawei spokesperson, too. If you’ve been following the Mate 10 Pro’s path to reach the U.S., you know exactly why all of this is happening.

The U.S. government is concerned with companies like Huawei and ZTE entering the country, obtaining personal information, and sending that back to the Chinese government. Huawei, of course, denies the allegations.

What’s next for Huawei is impossible to tell, but the company’s future in the U.S. doesn’t look good. Now the Mate 10 Pro is only available through the company’s online store and Amazon. It also doesn’t help that the price is extremely high for hardware from an unfamiliar brand.

The likely scenario is that Huawei pulls out of the market completely, which shouldn’t have many implications for the industry as its mobile devices weren’t selling well to begin with due to the limited number of outlets carrying them.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2018/03/22/mate-10-pro-best-buy-stops-sales/