The Chinese manufacturer’s latest smartphone has three rear cameras with a 40 megapixel main sensor. With exposure times of up to six seconds and the application of artificial intelligence, it can take photos in near-dark conditions without using its flash or a tripod.
Huawei is the third bestselling smartphone brand in the word, after Apple and Samsung. They expect the P20 to put them into first place.
But in the U.S., there have long been worries that the company could be used as vehicle for Chinese spying and the US government have reportedly blocked sales of Huawei’s devices.
In 2012, United States Congressional Intelligence Committee labelled Huawei, which was founded by a former Chinese military engineer, as a national security threat. Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of Asia-Pacific Operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service stated “The concerns are very legitimate, they echo and sum up the discussions which have been going on within Western intelligence agencies for many years now,”
China has been accused on numerous occasions of launching cyberattacks. In 2014 the U.S. government charged members of the Chinese military with hacking into American corporations, and a former Nortel employee believes the country’s spies hid within the former Canadian telecommunications giant’s networks for years.
But some believe the accusations may be less about national security, and more about the U.S. protecting its own interests.
Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer products division, told the BBC that the Americans feared his company was “too competitive [and] too strong”.
So, to take first place, Huawei will need to throw everything that it’s got at the European market.
With data security being such a hot topic, how do you feel about entrusting your data to a Huawei?
