Huawei and Leica officially “go their separate ways”

Recently, Xiaomi announced a strategic relationship with Leica, a famous camera brand from Germany to improve image quality on mobile devices in the future. Although there is no official information, we can be sure that the US embargo has affected the relationship between Leica and Huawei. Previously, Huawei had more than 5 years of cooperation with Huawei (since 2016) with the same relationship as the current Xiaomi.

As of today, Huawei has officially confirmed that the cooperation relationship with Leica has come to an end. Specifically, responding to Android Authority, Huawei said “We confirm the partnership between the two companies [Huawei và Leica] ended on 31/3”. This means that the last two smartphones still carrying the Leica brand are the P50 and P50 Pro. Any smartphone released after that, including the flagship series, will no longer have the Leica logo on the back. We’ve seen the P50 Pocket, Huawei’s Galaxy Z Flip3-like folding screen smartphone without the Leica logo.

Currently, Leica is cooperating with Xiaomi, it is not clear how long. The first Xiaomi smartphone with the Leica logo is said to be the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. Before Xiaomi, Leica also cooperated with Sharp, a manufacturer from Japan, and launched two smartphone models, Sharp Aquos R6 and R7, both with the Leica logo (Leitz Camera). It is not clear if this is an exclusive relationship, but it seems that Leica still maintains a relationship with Sharp.