Huawei: We like Windows Phone but Android is higher priority
The CMO of the Chinese device maker says Windows Phone is still on the agenda, but the company is more jazzed about its upcoming dual Android-Windows Phone device.
Huawei is still on friendly terms with Windows Phone, but Android is the true object of its affection.
Speaking with blog site TrustedReviews, Huawei Chief Marketing Officer Shao Yang said the maker of mobile devices remains "committed" to making phones outfitted with Microsoft's mobile OS. Last year, China-based Huawei launched the Ascend W1 and struck a deal with Microsoft to sell Windows Phone devices in Africa.
But that commitment isn't quite a top priority.
"Compared with Android, the priority of Windows Phone is much lower but is still one of our choices of OS," Yang said. "We are definitely using a multi-OS strategy."
Judging from Yang's remarks, a team-up between Windows Phone and Android appears to be at the top of the agenda. He said a dual-OS phone will reach US consumers sometime next quarter. Such a device could appeal to a wider range of customers, Yang said.
"With Windows Phone, one direction for us -- and one that we are now following -- is dual OS. Dual OS as in Android and Windows together," Yang told TrustedReviews. "If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone. If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone."
Though Huawei still isn't exactly a household name, at least not in the US, it has shot past many of its rivals. Last October, research firm Strategy Analytics dubbed Huawei the third-largest smartphone vendor in the world, behind Samsung and Apple but ahead of LG and Lenovo.