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Huawei was originally chosen to make Pixel phones, report says

The deal went south after Google told the Chinese electronics giant that the Pixel phones wouldn't bear the Huawei brand, a source said.

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Daniel Van Boom
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A few hours from now, Google is expected to unveil two HTC-made Pixel and Pixel XL phones, spiritual successors to the Nexus devices of yesteryear.

However, according to Android Police, Google originally wanted Huawei to make its two Pixel phones. The Chinese electronics giant, you probably remember, was behind last year's excellent Nexus 6P.

Huawei soured on the deal, an unnamed source told the publication, when it learned the Pixel phones wouldn't bear the Huawei logo. Congruent with this, leaked renders of the Pixel and Pixel XL aren't branded by HTC, or any other manufacturer.

That wasn't the only issue, though. Google, the source says, last year claimed the Nexus 6P would be stocked and sold through all four of the US major carriers. That didn't eventuate, as the phone was compatible with all four networks but not sold through them. The source also claims that the two sides made an agreement to match each other's advertising investment, an agreement which also apparently fell through.

Adding some legitimacy to the claims, a company exec during an interview at July's P9 launch in South Africa said, "We're doing the Nexus again this year," GSM Arena reported.

Huawei is the world's third largest phone maker, according to IDC research, but until last year hadn't yet penetrated the US market. Collaborating with Google was the company's way in, though now it appears Huawei will be flying solo in its attempt to crack open the US.

We'll find out a lot more about Google's Pixel phones in the next 24 hours, though both the 5-inch Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL are said to be powered by a 2.15GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of RAM and either 32 or 128GB of storage.

The company is also rumoured to be revealing its first Daydream VR headset, which will apparently launch at $79.

Huawei and Google were contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.