Back in the day, many Nokia smartphones came with Carl Zeiss lenses to beef up the Finnish companies smartphone cameras. Today we’re seeing a similar alliance formed between a major smartphone maker and a big photography company.
Huawei and Leica have entered into a strategic partnership to “create a powerhouse in the reinvention of smartphone photography.” Details of exactly what will come of Huawei and Leica’s alliance are still light, but the two companies have promised to share more as their partnership continues. In the mean time, here’s what Huawei Consumer BG CEO Richard Yu said of the deal”
"We choose our partners carefully, and with this extraordinary collaboration we are offering our wide customer base and consumers the best elements of two expert brands in harmony: combining innovation and design, enhancing the user experience and continuing to inspire amazing advancement in human technology through exceptional premium imaging quality. Leica is a legend in the world of photography; we believe no other manufacturer has revolutionised the industry as much as them. We, Huawei, take the utmost pride in exceptional quality and Leica is in a class of its own in its sector."
And here’s Leica CEO Oliver Kilter’s statement on his company’s new partnership:
"The strategic alliance between Huawei and Leica Camera demonstrates the desire of two rapidly growing and globally active brands to continuously push the envelope of the technologically possible. In addition to innovative strength and premium standards, our two companies are united by the commitment to uncompromising quality. The technology partnership with Huawei offers Leica Camera an excellent opportunity to introduce its proven optical expertise into a new product segment and to unlock exciting business areas in the field of mobile devices. Smartphones make a very important contribution to the world of photography and open an important door for Leica to new target groups and fields of application."
Smartphone camera quality is an important feature for many consumers, especially as they grow to rely on their smartphone as their only camera. As a result, many smartphone manufacturers are placing a focus on camera quality and features, like Sony touting its new 23-megapixel sensor and Predictive Hybrid Autofocus or the LG G5 boasting a main 16-megapixel rear camera and a secondary 8-megapixel camera with wide angle lens. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of this Huawei and Leica partnership, but having Leica-branded cameras could be a good way to help Huawei market future phones.
