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When it comes to Windows Phone manufacturers, one notable company has thus far refused to dip their toe into the water: Huawei. That’s soon going to change according to WPDang, who says that the Chinese handset maker has assembled a team of 70 engineers to work on a pair of Windows Phone 8 devices. One of them will use many of the components of an existing Android phone, and it should cost around $315. The other will be based on an all new design, with a screen that’ll measure over 4 inches. The site goes on to say that Huawei is also working on a 4G LTE enabled Windows 8 tablet, though no further details were given as to whether it’ll be an x86 based machine or an ARM based machine.
The first question that comes to mind is why did Huawei decide to wait until Windows Phone 8 to start using Microsoft’s mobile operating system? Did they take a look at Windows Phone 7.5 and think to themselves that it wasn’t good enough? We can only speculate at this point, but we think that they did the right thing by ignoring Mango and going straight to Apollo.
The second important question is how will Huawei’s entrance into the Windows Phone market affect Nokia Lumia sales? Huawei’s key talent is their ability to offer hardware with above average specifications for bargain basement prices. Since all Windows Phone devices run the exact same software on what’s essentially the exact same Qualcomm processor, the only reason someone would want something from Nokia rather than from Huawei would be if the Nokia device was better designed. Other than that … all Windows Phones are pretty much created equal.
And as for the tablet, that’s a tough one to discuss since there are so many variables in play. If they build an x86 machine, which we doubt they will, then they’ll be going up against Lenovo and HP. If they go with an ARM based chip, then they’ll be going up against the Apple iPad.
[Via: Unwired View]
Update: Ben Wood, an analyst with CCS Insight, is in China right now. He met with Huawei’s Chief Marketing Officer, who said: “We’ll launch our first Windows Phone in Q4 2012.”
Huawei Device CMO: “We’ll launch 1st Window Phone in 4Q12″ <- Cud be key volume driver for Microsoft – sure they’re getting great terms!
— Ben Wood (@benwood) April 26, 2012
More info on Huawei’s 1st Windows Phone device: Huawei Ascend W1. Launch 4Q12, global availability 1Q13. “We’ll be a pioneer on WP Apollo”
— Ben Wood (@benwood) April 26, 2012
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
