Huawei wants to sell smartphone licenses in the future

Huawei has forged a new plan to escape the economic consequences of the US embargo. The Chinese electronics company is probably planning to sell smartphone designs in the future. In the course of this, partner companies could possibly be able to launch Huawei clones with 5G and Google Services in Western climes.

Will Huawei become the cuckoo among manufacturers?

The plan is both simple and ingenious. It is worth taking a look at the animal world here to fully comprehend the strategy originating from insider circles. Take the cuckoo. The feathered animal lays its own eggs in the nests of other birds to let them hatch. Huawei is probably following a similar procedure. By selling the company’s own designs, other smartphone manufacturers quickly put the devices of the embargoed company on the market. They do not have to suffer from the sanctions and can easily launch features like Google Services and 5G in our country.

If you take a look at the recently released smartphones Huawei Nova 9 (test) and Honor 50 (test), you can definitely understand the plan. Visually, both devices resemble each other like peas in a pod. But in the end, most customers in the Western world will probably like the Honor 50 better. The reason for this is not only that it runs Android along with Google Play Store and other elements of Google services. The Honor 50 also offers 5G, which Huawei is now not allowed to integrate into its devices in the West. Even if Honor no longer wants anything to do with its former mother, this gives a small foretaste of the possibilities that Huawei has despite the embargo.

An unknown partner in this country

But which smartphone manufacturer should put appropriately licensed devices on the market? Xiaomi? Honor? Poco? This is where a company that is still very unknown in our region should get involved – Xnova. As the news portal Bloomberg has learned from insider circles, the Chinese manufacturer first wants to license the designs from Huawei. Afterwards, the smartphones built in-house are to be launched under the Xnova label. But who is behind the unknown company? Xnova is a business branch of China Postal and Telecommunications Appliances (PTAC), which focuses on manufacturing and selling its own smartphones, but also devices from Huawei. Interestingly, Xnova is also considered a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Xnova is not on embargo list

Huawei could hardly have chosen a better partner. After all, PTAC as a company is not on the embargo list so feared by Chinese companies. What does that mean? PTAC in general and Xnova in particular are not subject to the strict restrictions and are allowed to work with US companies. This is important not only for sales, but already for manufacturing. After all, in view of the rampant chip shortage, it is important to have as many sources of important components for a smartphone as possible. At Huawei, the limited supply sources led to some production problems, which were added to the already serious embargo consequences.

For example, the lack of necessary hardware made it impossible for the Chinese electronics giant to integrate 5G chips into its smartphones. This affected not only mid-range devices, but also Huawei’s flagships. For now, the new licensing model will only be applied in China itself. Will Xnova or another company also launch Huawei devices under a different label in the West? So far, this is still unknown. However, in view of the sophisticated strategy, such an approach is quite conceivable. With an underdog like Xnova, success is unlikely to be promising. However, the Chinese might also snatch a well-known sinking ship like Nokia. We are curious.