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Huawei exec cracks down hard on Windows Phone, says 'nobody made any money' in it

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By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Dec 02, 2014, 9:10 AM

Huawei's Joe Kelly

It's not even Huawei's outspoken CEO that has stirred up the next statement controversy coming from the company, but rather its head of international media affairs Joe Kelly, who sat down for an interview with the Seattle Times, discussing the company's current and future plans.

Amidst waxing poetic about the possibility to return to the US market when things with the NSA spying scandal and Huawei telecom equipment calm down, the PR head was asked about Windows Phone. “We didn’t make any money in Windows Phone,” he said. “Nobody made any money in Windows Phone.” It seems that Microsoft's mobile OS won't have a bright future with Huawei, and that's precisely what the marketing exec mentioned - Huawei is putting its WP plans on hold for now, after producing just two devices with the software. That's quite a pivot from the rosier outlook that Huawei had on the matter a year ago, but a lot happened since then, too.

The company is also somewhat worried about the rise of Xiaomi, it turns out, which recently zipped past it to become the world's third-largest smartphone vendor, if we don't count Motorola folding into Lenovo now. Huawei's media exec, however, says that their strategy differs from that of Xiaomi, which sells its phones around cost, and makes bank when the price of components goes down over time. Instead, Huawei will be focusing on the higher end of the market. “We will lose volume in that shift,” Kelly mentioned, which can be expected, so apparently the company won't be fighting for market share, but rather try and maintain healthier margins

source: SeattleTimes

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.