Through a joint statement, Huawei and Leica attempted to clarify the controversy regarding their collaboration on the Huawei P9.
One of the more prominent features of the Huawei P9, the Chinese company's latest flagship smartphone, was co-engineered with iconic global photography brand Leica Camera AG. The result of the collaboration between Huawei and Leica is the dual-lens camera module of the smartphone, which aims to raise the bar for smartphone photography.
However, recent reports have revealed that the smartphone's camera module was actually manufactured by Sunny Optical, a Chinese smartphone camera manufacturer and a global supplier of camera modules. As such, it has been speculated that Leica actually had minimal input in the development of the Huawei P9's camera and just certified the module.
The partnership between Huawei and Leica for the smartphone is now being called a simple marketing ploy that looked to ride on the popularity of Leica to help sell the device.
In defense, the joint statement released claims Huawei and Leica did indeed collaborate on the Huawei P9's camera module, with Leica being deeply involved in the development of the smartphone component.
However, what the joint statement said can be understood another way, with Leica only helped Huawei in choosing a camera module among the ones offered by Sunny Optical would meet a certain standard set by Leica, and that while Leica may have been involved in the overall process it did not actually manufacture the lenses in the Huawei P9.
At the end of the day, though, it is still the customers who will decide if Huawei P9 meets the high standards it set by attaching Leica's name to its camera. Early reviews of the smartphone, however, are showing that the Huawei P9's camera, while a great one, is not living up to high expectations.
