Cooperation between Leica and Huawei has ended

Leica and Huawei confirm that they are no longer working together. In 2016, the companies entered into a long-term cooperation agreement in the field of smartphone camera technology. From 2016 to 2022, Huawei phones got cameras bearing the Leica name.

The cooperation between Leica and Huawei has ended as of March 31 this year, both companies confirm to The Register† In response, the companies said they greatly appreciated the collaboration and said it has brought “new standards and technical capabilities” in the field of cameras in phones. The companies do not say why the cooperation has ended.

On Monday, Xiaomi announced that it would announce a smartphone in July in collaboration with Leica. It was already clear that Leica has found a new partner, but that the cooperation with Huawei had not yet been confirmed.

Huawei first used the partnership with Leica in 2016 in the P9 and Mate 9 smartphones. The top models of the following years also received cameras that were made in collaboration with Leica. The Huawei P50 models are the last devices with the Leica brand on the back of the phone.

Leica worked with Huawei, among other things, to improve the lenses used, which were made by a third party. The companies also worked together to fine-tune the image processing and Huawei devices had settings that should mimic colors from Leica cameras.

Huawei has largely lost market share in the smartphone market since strict sanctions were imposed by the United States in 2019. The Chinese manufacturer can therefore no longer provide Google services on its smartphones, making them much less interesting for the western market.

Huawei P9 from 2016