Huawei's partnership with Leica has ended

In a statement with Android Authority, tech giant Huawei confirmed that its cooperation with Leica ended last March 31.

File photo: Huawei P50 Pro

End of an era

Huawei's long-term collaboration with Leica which started in 2016 lasted for around 6 years. The first fruit of its collaboration is the Huawei P9 which paved the way for Huawei's rise in the mobile photography rankings.

Leica's branding has also been very instrumental in Huawei's rise to the top of the smartphone ranking. But, the company's inclusion in the so-called "Entity List" slowed down its sales.

Anyway, under the partnership, Huawei and Leica were able to develop some of the very best camera phones on the market. The two worked on image tuning, added Leica filters on Huawei devices, introduced the monochrome sensor on a phone for the first time, developed the handheld Night mode, popularized the superzoom on phones, and many more.

The last device with Leica optics to launch globally is the Huawei P50 Pro which is still among the top camera phones today.

This is probably why the recently announced Mate Xs 2 foldable smartphone is now carrying the "Huawei Image" optics instead of Leica.

Huawei Official Statement

Since 2015, Huawei Consumer Business Group and Leica Camera AG have worked intensively together. The cooperation between the two companies ended on March 31 of 2022.

The two companies highly appreciate the partnership. The cooperation was based on each company's excellent technical know-how and mutual trust resulting in ground-breaking innovations in the field of smartphone photography. Together, Huawei and Leica Camera have created new imaging standards and technical capabilities, bringing convenient and high-quality experiences to consumers worldwide, through which they have recorded the most memorable moments of their lives.

Huawei is grateful to its global consumers for their support and will continue providing them with the ultimate in mobile photography experiences through its continued pursuit of innovation.

We thank you for your continuous support for Huawei. Have a good day!

To those who are wondering, the new long-term partner of Leica for mobile imaging is Xiaomi.

Source: Android Authority