Huawei's long established trading relationship with Leica to integrate the German camera maker's technology into its phones is over, the companies have confirmed.

From February 2016, all Huawei flagships were [1]slated [PDF] to have Leica-developed lenses and branding.

The Reg was [2]generally quite [3]impressed by the combined products over the years.

[4]

But alas, Huawei's smartphone sales started to tumble thanks to [5]US sanctions on the company starting in 2019, and the relationship with Leica was itself brought to a halt on March 31, 2022, the pair confirmed.

[6]

[7]

Leica and Huawei jointly told The Register :

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.

The breakup follows Huawei's [8]attempts to realign its business segments without access to components containing non-American tech.

Huawei's smartphones, tablets, and wearables division [9]shrank 50 percent from 2020 to 2021, due to those US sanctions and other market access losses. The company was even forced to sell off its low-end Honor handset business and credited "persistent unavailability of technical elements needed for our mobile phone business" for the decision.

[10]Huawei re-orgs to formalize business PC sales

[11]Xiaomi adds earthquake alert system to some smartphones

[12]Chip shortage to end this year – at least for us: Xiaomi

[13]Qualcomm crams more smarts into flagship mobile chip: It's the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

For Leica, the ending of the Huawei agreement presented it with a challenge and opportunity, and it is now working with Xiaomi to integrate its technology into a new flagship handset due for release in July.

In a canned statement, Leica CEO Matthias Harsch and Xiaomi Group CEO Lei Jun [14]said the "cooperation will provide a strong boost to Xiaomi's imaging strategy."

Leica has a cult status. Its head of development in the early 1910s, Oskar Barnack, is credited with making the first 35mm camera, known as the Ur-Leica. The brand was [15]said to bring credibility to Huawei products.

[16]

The loss for Huawei could be a huge win for Xiaomi, and is not a shabby deal for Leica either. Canalys [17]projected Xiaomi to be in third place for Q1 2022 smartphone market share after Samsung and Apple.

Xiaomi's Q1 revenue plunged 11 percent year on year to $6.88 billion, thanks to [18]strict COVID lockdowns and subsequent logistics and supply chain nightmares.

In an [19]earnings call , Xiaomi president Wang Xiang said the problem has gradually improved in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, but in Shanghai logistics still remained a problem. ®

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[1] https://en.leica-camera.com/Company/Press-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2016/Press-Release-HUAWEI-and-Leica-Camera-announce-long-term-technology-partnership-for-the-reinvention-of-smartphone-photography

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/27/huawei_launch_paris_spring2018/

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2016/04/06/huawei_p9_hands_on/

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yo0BJGUovePMOw7jTVMUvgAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/15/president_trump_huawei_emergency_ban/

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yo0BJGUovePMOw7jTVMUvgAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yo0BJGUovePMOw7jTVMUvgAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/huawei_terminal_business/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/28/huawei_fy_2021/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/huawei_terminal_business/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/05/xiaomi_indonesia_smartphone_earthquake_warnings/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/23/xiaomi_q4_2021/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/30/qualcomm_snapdragon_8_gen_1/

[14] https://www.mi.com/global/discover/article?id=2708

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2016/09/26/huawei_leica_mr_ren/

[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yo0BJGUovePMOw7jTVMUvgAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/19/smartphone_shipments_q1_2022/

[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/19/chinese_shanghai_slowdown/

[19] https://seekingalpha.com/article/4513295-xiaomi-corporation-xiacf-management-on-q1-2022-results-earnings-call-transcript

[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/