AT&T Says No Huawei Despite Huge Anticipation

There was a huge level of anticipation building up to the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, with people expecting Huawei to announce a partnership with AT&T. It would have been the Chinese company’s biggest opportunity to break into the U.S. market with its smartphones. This didn’t turn out to be the case, however, as the carrier reportedly said no to the deal.

Failing to secure a partnership with one of the biggest mobile carriers in the U.S. is a major setback for AT&T, Bloomberg reports. The Chinese manufacturer has been trying to break into the American market for years and while some of its products are already available, it hasn’t gotten the kind of traction that would allow it to compete with other major brands.

Its Mate 10 Pro smartphone, for example, will apparently be available unlocked for customers to buy, an unnamed source told the publication. U.S. customers who were looking forward to the device can get it, but not in the manner that many prefer and have grown accustomed to.

Officially, neither Huawei nor AT&T ever confirmed that a deal was even taking place and there’s certainly no reason to expect that they would comment on this failed arrangement. The Wall Street Journal was one of the earliest to publish reports regarding the carrier’s decision to pull out of the deal.

In any case, all is not lost for the company since there are other carriers that it can do business with. Verizon would be a reasonable alternative and the same goes for T-Mobile. It’s not as if there isn’t any demand for the budget smartphones that Huawei is offering either, especially in light of the positive reviews that its products have been getting.

The company already has the rest of the world’s markets cornered, especially in Asia. Breaking into the U.S. market would simply bring it closer to its lofty ambitions.