Despite Mate 20 Pro's Flagship Killer Specs, Huawei Has No Plans For U.S. Sales
Huawei just recently launched the Mate 20 Pro, a burly Android phone that is a high-end device from top to bottom, but good luck buying one if you live in the United States. The Chinese smartphone maker is not planning to sell its newest flagship phone in the US, and the same goes for the non-Pro variant (Mate 20), simple as that.
Actually, it's not a simple decision, but one that is likely rooted in the US government putting pressure on companies and consumers not to do business with Huawei. US intelligence agencies have warned on more than one occasion of security concerns with Huawei (and also ZTE). It's the reason why a deal with AT&T to sell Huawei smartphones in the US fell apart in the 11th hour, and also why US lawmakers recently urged Google to disengage with Huawei.
Despite challenges in penetrating the US market, Huawei is now the second largest smartphone company in the world, in terms of market share. It leapfrogged Apple for the No. 2 spot in the second quarter of this year, according to data from International Data Corporation, sitting nearly four percentage points ahead (15.8 percent versus 12.1 percent).
"We are not planning to sell the Mate 20 Series in the US. While international variants of the Mate 20 Series may be available on some US online retail sites, we encourage individuals to carefully read the details about the warranty and network compatibility before purchasing," Huawei told Business Insider.
What this means is that the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will probably be available through certain online retailers, but not in an official capacity from Huawei. US buyers should pay close attention to the supported networks if going that route.
It's easy to see why some buyers might be tempted by Huawei's newest models. The Mate 20 Pro looks like an iPhone XS Max from the front, but features a 6.39-inch OLED display with a 3120x1440 resolution powered by a 7nm Kirin 980 processor and 6GB of RAM. It also wields a triple camera arrangement on the rear, including a 40MP wide-angle sensor (f/1.8), 20MP super-wide-angle sensor (f/2.2) and 8MP telephoto lens (f/2.2, 3X zoom).
