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Leica and Huawei announce partnership to 'reinvent smartphone photography'

Lars Rehm | Published: Feb 25, 2016 at 22:38 UTC

We've seen established members of the optical industry partner with smartphone makers before. Nokia high-end phones used to come with Carl Zeiss branded lenses and Schneider Kreuznach optics have been used in various models from Chinese manufacturer Oppo. Now it seems we could soon see Leica-branded lenses and other imaging technology in Huawei smartphones as the two manufacturers have today announced a 'Long-term Technology Partnership for the Reinvention of Smartphone Photography'.

Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei Consumer BG said: 'We choose our partners carefully, and with this extraordinary collaboration we are offering our wide customer base and consumers the best elements of two expert brands in harmony: combining innovation and design, enhancing the user experience and continuing to inspire amazing advancement in human technology through exceptional premium imaging quality. Leica is a legend in the world of photography; we believe no other manufacturer has revolutionised the industry as much as them. We, Huawei, take the utmost pride in exceptional quality and Leica is in a class of its own in its sector.'

Huawei has been the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world and in 2015 was the first Chinese company to sell more than 100 million mobile phones in one year. Leica is arguably the most prestigious name in the camera industry and a company that has been making cameras and lenses of the highest quality for more than 100 years. Some of the most iconic images in the history of photography have been captured with Leica equipment.

Oliver Kaltner, CEO of Leica Camera AG said: "The strategic alliance between Huawei and Leica Camera demonstrates the desire of two rapidly growing and globally active brands to continuously push the envelope of the technologically possible. In addition to innovative strength and premium standards, our two companies are united by the commitment to uncompromising quality. The technology partnership with Huawei offers Leica Camera an excellent opportunity to introduce its proven optical expertise into a new product segment and to unlock exciting business areas in the field of mobile devices. Smartphones make a very important contribution to the world of photography and open an important door for Leica to new target groups and fields of application."

The partnership will include the areas of research and development, design, co-engineering, user experience, marketing and retail distribution but no details on specific products or projects have been shared yet. We are intrigued to see what this strategic cooperation of two big players in their respective sectors will bring, but one should not be too surprised if we'll see a Huawei smartphone with Leica-branded optics at some point in the near future.

@larsrehm

Comments

Total comments: 98

That will be great. Hope Huawei will not be too expensive?

0 upvotes

good new, I love Leica

0 upvotes

You are right but I love sony most.

0 upvotes

lol. i did not get any information from the news.

0 upvotes

Add some stars around leica Red logo and tada! it looks like China Flag. Legit

0 upvotes

here's someone who's never seen a flag of china

0 upvotes

Hmm. $1,000 smart phones with the Red Dot.

0 upvotes

I can't wait for the finished product - with the camera lovingly designed by Huawei, and the phone part by Leica ;)

3 upvotes

Hahah what an amusing scenario. Not a long shot actually. Schneider-Kreuznach optics used in Samsung cameras and lately in Oppo phones are reportedly not all made by the German maker. Samsung's Schneider-branded lenses are made by, tadaa, Pentax! In fairness, those products do satisfy the German company's manufacturing specifications and carry on the distinct German mark of quality. Some of Sony's Zeiss glass also is already made in Japan by Sony. In a similar vein, Panasonic used technology it inherited or learned from Leitz Wetzlar to make its Lumix G Vario lens. The non-optics pedigree companies have used their financial and commercial muscle to bring us the best in optics in their phones, and we are all the happier for it.

0 upvotes

Hmmm! It will be too expensive.

0 upvotes

Let's not forget that Leica already sold their soul many years ago to Panasonic, with their very ordinary 'Leica Dicomar' lenses even on cheap camcorders. Perhaps this sort of badge engineering actually fools some people.

1 upvote

If SL is any indication, we're in for a 60" screen and every button milled from a 5-kilogram stainless steel billet... down to 4.9 kilograms.

Seriously, though, I'm terribly sorry for the good German people who worked all their life to build the Leica name... only to see it slapped to the cheapest Chinese smartphone brand for a handful of yuans. At least Hasselblad cooperation with a renowned electronics name.

4 upvotes

I am Sony would be very happy these days if their Mobile Device business went as well as Huawei's ;)

1 upvote

I wouldn't really separate those two. It's little secret that those big companies don't do much in terms of the actual hardware development. Most of it is done by specialized Chinese firms. Apple iPhones have always been HTC production, Samsung phones are the genuis of some other Chinese company whose name escaped my memory (or pronunciation skills). I'm quite sure Sony Xperia is developed by Chinese engineers, too, and, judging by the results, Huawei is a likely candidate.

1 upvote

Not sure what these statements are based on, but Apple devices being made by HTC is definitely wrong. I sure HTC would wish it was true though :)

1 upvote

we believe everything we read in the internet, esp those regarding how chinese engineers who have undergone strict limit on creativity expression in education to be actually the creative juice behind the latest tech firms. BigOne is a very trustworthy source. He is also the founder of microsoft china.

0 upvotes

I seriously doubt that hazing, frat parties and racist chants led by oversexed house moms really help the creativity in American colleges. Whereas self-discipline and ability to work hard has propelled China from an agricultural loser to the industrial power producing 8% of the world's goods in less than 20 years. But you're entitled to believe whatever you want. Be creative.

1 upvote

Of course this is very much about Huawei buying the right to decorate their flagship models with the Leica badge. But there may be quite a bit more to it, for neither seems to have a very strong position in the actual product segment - Huawei needs to be there, and for Leica it could be quite lucrative to be there. So why not go there together?

1 upvote

Yes I suppose. Huewai wants the prestige of the Leica branding, Leica want what could be the lucrative licensing fees from such branding. It's just a marketing thing for the former and a money making thing for the latter. That's all basically.

0 upvotes

Leica still needs to pay their employees and all that research and development work. They have to get money for that and any way of getting money seems to be OK for me. I'm happy that this company still alive and doing business.

0 upvotes

If Leica wants to "be there", why not collaborate with a prestigeous name... as prestigeous as those names can be... like Apple or Samsung. On the second thought, that may be a step down for those two.

1 upvote

So much bull, so little time...

1 upvote

As if the Leica brand hadn't been dragged through the mud already...

Seriously, having had the displeasure to use Huawei phones, I can state confidently that they are hot garbage. That plus the baggage of their deep ties to the PLA, and their well-known sordid history of industrial spying, and I can see no reason why any Western company would want to get in bed with them (aside, I suppose, from the 1.4 billion reasons living in China).

I guess it just goes to show that the so-called Leica technology advantages really are merely smoke if they're so willing to hand the keys to the kingdom to known criminals.

4 upvotes

You probably never been to China.

2 upvotes

and, of course, western companies are so clean cut and above board in their dealings.

Edited 10 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

PLA? "Sordid history of industrial spying"? Aaah, I love the smell of Fox News in the morning!

2 upvotes

In China, I thought that if you wanted something to be Leica branded, you just printed your own Leica labels. :-)

9 upvotes

Or even better, just misspell one or more letter(s) too. e.g. i to a l. as Lelca. ;-)

1 upvote

My Dad is a dollar-store and flea market afficionado, so when I visited him the other day, I was amused but not surprised to find he was using "Sharpei" brand permanent markers.

And in case you think I am joking:
http://www.amazon.com/Sharpei-Point-Permanent-Markers-Colors/dp/B00BLSXU84

Edited 54 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

It's aficionado with one "F". And I don't see what's wrong with that name? It actually says "super Sharpei". Quite clever.

1 upvote

Afficionado is an acceptable variant spelling.

0 upvotes

form amazon review:
" They are terrible not all of them work and come broken. I was disappointed. Some of the caps held on to the marker tip and I think you should not spend your money on these just buy real sharpies."

0 upvotes

Yeah, and spend more than 1.99 on a pack of ten, deal trawler.

1 upvote

Huawei have struck gold with this deal.....iPhone will suffer mass desertion from hipsters, with this new "Leica" Huawei partnership....

1 upvote

Ridiculous. You are VASTLY overestimating the appeal of Leica to hipsters. Most don't give a rat's ass about photography or know who Leica is, whereas Apple has the advantage of having arguably the most recognizable brand on the planet right now while at the same time somehow retaining some kind of counter-cultural cachet among the hipsterati. .

Edited 10 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

Not shure, any brand with history and the appeal of "different" seem to have potential, apple was nothing in the age of dumbphones. If huawei makes a phone with good specs and great camera, with a leica mount and Leica design it so it looks weird and puts the leica logo on it. Leica can have made a homerun in the hipster-community. That is how huawei use to do it, so people don't know how big they are.

Edited 40 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Wrong partner.
Although I can't think of a correct partner.

6 upvotes

Sony was taken and Panasonic doesn't make smartphones.

1 upvote

... anymore. they got out of the smartphone market a few years ago.

0 upvotes

Finally I can get a RED DOT on my next smartphone, I am SO EXCITED...
I will take so much better photos and selfies... yay.
I have just crushed my D800 with a hammer... just because.

Edited 53 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

Gosh, D800!? You're SO 18th century! D810 has been on the market for ages. Pfft.

2 upvotes

I wonder if there will be a Leica selfie stick meanwhile zeiss is in the smartphone market http://lenspire.zeiss.com/en/zeiss-and-fellowes-brands-launch/

Edited 46 seconds after posting

1 upvote

FACEPALM

1 upvote

Honestly, both have nothing to do with photography.
Not even interesting to watch.

6 upvotes

To think of it, neither has anything to do with smartphones, either. Oh, well, it'll be an adventure. Huawei will spend 0.00001% of its free cash capital on some fun name, and Leica... will finally die.

2 upvotes

Wouldn't be surprised if Leica got sold (ahem stolen) to a Chinese company.

Edited 34 seconds after posting

1 upvote

I would.

0 upvotes

It's actually mostly owned by investment company Blackstone, not sure if that's any better than a Chinese company :)

3 upvotes

The point is that though owned by a giant private equity firm, Leica is being run as a camera/lens company.

PhaseOne is owned by something similar and is being run as a camera company.

Hasselblad not so much.

0 upvotes

Yeah, right. Leica is being run as a cash cow. They no longer even control how Panasonic is using their name.

1 upvote

A $5000 smartphone...yaay, what I've always wanted...can't wait.

1 upvote

If it can shoot film, it will really re-invent smartphone photography. A $200 leather (simulated ostrich) case marked "Leica" will sell well.

Edited 24 seconds after posting

1 upvote

$200? Get this rifraf out of here. I'm not touching it for less than a grand.

1 upvote

China is moving aggressively to deny Freedom of Navigation to the U.S. and its allies in the South China Sea and western companies are still investing in China? Leica's optical designs and manufacturing processes will be stolen before Leica coffers are Swollen.

1 upvote

Has China stated it will not allow international shipping to pass through its territorial water in South China Sea?

3 upvotes

You're a dumb-ass

1 upvote

China,Russia,European Union and India are trying to set their own GPS...What is wrong with that?

0 upvotes

International Maritime Law should be amended to read, the county only has the freedom of navigation if at least 5% its citizens can point to South China Sea on the map in less than 30 minutes. Oh, boy, will US and its allies start losing freedom of navigation.

1 upvote

Based on the comments here, the partnership between Huawei and Leica won't actually have to "reinvent smartphone photography" in order to exceed expectations. I'll ty to keep an open mind and hope they push the needle a bit in the right direction in a phone market that has stagnated with regard to camera performance.

0 upvotes

If you put "phone" and "camera performance" in one sentence, your mind is truly wide open. Like with a machete.

2 upvotes

An actual Leica camera is to a Leica smartphone what eating at Wolfgang Puck's Spago Beverly Hills is to buying a can of Wolfgang Puck soup.

3 upvotes

Yes. Eating at the restaurant is much more expensive.

1 upvote

That's a VERY specific simile.

1 upvote

Very savvy move on Huawei. They make great phones but many don't know they exist. Attaching their brand to Leica gives them instant name recognition without having to spend millions of dollars in advertising.

6 upvotes

Canon at 40th, Huawei at 88 out of the top 100 global brands.

If you haven't heard of Huawei, you live under a rock or are really old. More the other way around.

http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2015/ranking/

Edited 48 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

Or you live in the USA rather than China.

4 upvotes

Great phones? Every Huawei phone I've used has been utter junk. And then there is this:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1748900-spy-software-found-pre-installed-on-lenovo-huawei-and-xiaomi-smartphones/

Edited 14 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

@dcshooter, Huawei can't compete when it comes to spyware:

https://theintercept.com/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/

and this:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/09/new-york-times-provides-new-details-about-nsa-backdoor-in-crypto-spec/

2 upvotes

Huawei phones are actually excellent, offers great performance for their price. Which is part of the reason why they are doing so well (better than most western mobile companies because they know how to do business), in fact most Chinese companies knows how to do business that's why western companies are declaring bankruptcies while being bought out by the dozens by Chinese companies.

1 upvote

I think you are correct. Huawei got the knowledge of telecommunications, pretty sure that if you would look into it you would be surprised, I bet the gps in huawei beats iphone by miles for example, but it is just a guess.

0 upvotes

I can't wait to see the Red Dot on some the cheapest Chinese smartphones. Leica must largely exist on the basis of licensing fees. What's next? A Chinese made "Leica" action cam? A Chinese "Leica" smartwatch?

0 upvotes

Samsung was also not that big and it is also Korean.China has a bigger market and Chinese economy is giant!
Second world war times,everything was like "made in Japan" like it is "made in China" now...Was again cheap low quality stuff as Chinese stuff of todays.But in time Japan economy got bigger and their technology too.Now it is the same for China!
Everything made in China is not low quality anymore,they have really sturdy stuff too!

5 upvotes

Huawei also make some pretty expensive smartphones and I'd expext the Leica dot to be reserved for those...

5 upvotes

@Xentinus: Samsung were the largest corporate entity on the earth when they started making smartphones. I'm not sure where you get the idea that they were not big.

The rest of your comment is spot on.

1 upvote

Xiaomi spends basically no money for R&D, marketing and US distribution so that's why their phones are so cheap. Their price won't stay that cheap if the compete in level ground as others.

And Samsung used to make basically everything, including cars, high-fi audios, tanks, missiles, trucks, excavators.... They made first smartphone around 2000, a number of tablet PCs way in advance of iPads (and they did manufacture THE first tablet PC, gridpad in 1989!)

Edited 2 times; latest 10 minutes since posting

1 upvote

it is impossible to reinvent smartphone photography, we have seen galaxy nx already, fixed lenses are the norm and now 360 is here. Both Huawei and leica is skilled companies but the concept of reinventing is traditional advertisement.
Maybe they are going to make an xray-smartphone camera with bikini see through technology but probably not.
It will be regular phone/sensor/lens with leica badge on a chinese lens ,ofcourse.

0 upvotes

Made-in-China aren't what they used to be, in fact some of the world's highest quality items are made in China, China has perfected generations of manufacturing process that no other countries are able to match, most of the high quality stuff are mostly robot/machine made anyways, so its not like the same machine in Germany is going to be much better than the same machine in China. All you need to do is to send a couple of German engineers over to do some QC and you are set employing some of the world's best workhorse.

2 upvotes

@ shigzeo
I was not talking about Samsung's smartphone department.When those companies are established,their primary target is to get bigger in their own countries.This is why I mentioned Samsung as the example.

0 upvotes

@Xentius: The problem with that logic is that EVERY company out there started from ground zero with smart phones. Some were tiny companies. Some were recovering companies. The only company that had more revenue than all of Venezuela at the launch of their first smartphone was Samsung. Samsung are too large to fail in any segment into which they really pour resources. And having one of the world's largest supply chains and distribution channels, they could attack the smartphone market like no one, not even Apple, could.

Which is all to say: I don't get the comparison. Every smartphone maker started at the same place. Samsung happened to have a large dumbphone presence. They were the largest corporate entity in the world. The rest is history.

0 upvotes

shigzeo,
I don't know what else to say really.
I said I was NOT talking about when Samsung joined smartphone market...I know they were in the dumbphone market before.They were in AC business earlier(still are),they also were selling fish,fruit etc. long long time ago.
Maybe just because my comment is under a smartphone-camera partnership,you are focusing on just smartphone market.
Samsung is one of the largest company of the world for years...I know that very well even before dumbphone business.

0 upvotes

so charge 5 times as much for the little red dot on a smartphone and call it good.

1 upvote

What product from Leica is 5 times more expensive than it should be (considering: 1 a company still needs profit margins; 2: Leica command a much smaller market share).

Rubbish.

0 upvotes

Funny, Pentax has a miniscule marketshare as well, yet they just released a highly anticipated FF DSLR at about a 1/3 lower price than comparable models from the competition.

0 upvotes

@dcshooter: Pentax have always had to compete on price, being less expensive than their rivals. Leica have never had to do that. But they certainly don't price their stuff 5x more than the competition. Whether or not your agree with their modus operandi, their bodies are far more expensive to produce than the competition. The sensors they use are usually two years behind the curve, but that's it.

0 upvotes

Ugh...

1 upvote

Smart move from Leica...Smartphones are the future of photography (beside professional works)!

8 upvotes

Not convinced by that at all...remember the cm1??

1 upvote

Who wants a gazillion dollar mobile, just because it has a Leica camera?

1 upvote

Leica would put their name on a handbag if the fee was adequate, so a cell phone is no problem.
Actually, Leica will learn something about compact optics from this partnership, so the deal makes mutual sense, Huawei gets a profile boost and Leica gets a foothold in a growth market.

1 upvote

You cant imagine how many of my friends and people i Know have bought mirrorless cameras tired of how bad the IQ of their smartphones is (yes including Iphone and Galaxy owners)

And they arent photographers.

1 upvote

Leica want to attach their name to a low-rent phone maker like Huawei?

What next? Leica fries at McDonalds?

5 upvotes

Top-end Huawei models like the P8 or Mate 8 are actually quite close money-wise to the Samsungs and LGs of this world, would not quite call them low-rent.

8 upvotes

Huawei makes Google's Nexus 6P, one of the highest rated Android phones currently available.

4 upvotes

Huawei is the smart part in this alliance, huawei is not first and foremost a phone maker but a communications company comparable to motorola and similar. What leica is offering to huawei is a brand name for the masses. it will work.

Edited 47 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

You might need to get out of your closet and see the world. Things are changing around you and you haven't even noticed. Don't go the ways of the dinosaurs.

Huawei phone's are in fact pretty high quality with excellent specs for a very good price, what more can you ask from a phone?

1 upvote

Nice.

However. Leica has very little experience/engineering know-how in phone-size, super tight space lenses and folding mechanisms.

Further, the biggest problem in phones is the sensor. Leica has zero sensor tech, all they do is buy it from others.

I fail to see how this is - so far anyway - anything but a marketing move.

All the phone makers are battling with diminishing marings. Getting that red dot on your phone might enable you to charge a few $ more per unit. Higher margins is the goal.

Let's see how it turns out.

Edited 38 seconds after posting

1 upvote

well, we all remember the Leica / Panasonic partnership...not too much Leica tec in those Panasonic-designed Leica models if I recall correctly...

5 upvotes