Huawei in talks to sell smartphone brands P and Mate

Chinese tech giant Huawei is in early-stage talks to sell its premium smartphone brands P and Mate, Reuters reported on Monday.

According to two people with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke to Reuters, the move could see the company eventually exit from the high-end smartphone-making business.

Talks between the company and a consortium led by Shanghai government-backed investment firms months were reportedly ongoing, having begun several months before.

Huawei began to explore the possibility of selling the brands as early as September 2020.

It was unclear what the valuation of both smartphone brands were but Mate and P Series shipped phones worth $39.7bn in the year between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020.

The two brands contributed nearly 40% to Huawei’s total sales in the third quarter of 2020, according to market research firm Counterpoint.

Nevertheless, Huawei denied the rumours that it was interested in selling.

“Huawei has learned there are unsubstantiated rumours circulating regarding the possible sale of our flagship smartphone brands,” a Huawei spokesman said according to Reuters. “There is no merit to these rumours whatsoever. Huawei has no such plan.”

Huawei had already sold last November its budget phone brand Honor to a consortium of 30 dealers led by a company backed by the Shenzhen government.