Hurricane Sandy may have spared the Windows Phone 8 launch but a different storm may now be brewing that may affect Microsoft and their newly launched mobile OS.
Apparently, there was a little bit of drama in today’s Windows Phone 8 launch involving Chinese manufacturer Huawei, makers of the Windows Phone 8-powered Huawei Ascend W1. According to reports, accusations that Huawei is a threat to United States national security may have played a hand in their being excluded in the event.
Huawei is one of the four device manufacturers working with Microsoft on Windows Phone 8 — the other three being Nokia, HTC and Samsung — and noticeable absence from the launch event has lead to some ill-feelings from the Chinese company. Huawei’s Vice President Yu Chengdong recently expressed his disappointment via Weibo, China’s version of Twitter:
“We are one of the four [Windows Phone 8] makers and yet [we] could not attend the global launch I hope this inapprehensible situation brings no surprise in the midst of political and business struggles between China and the U.S.”
Microsoft claims that the ongoing national security issue involving Huawei and other Chinese technology firms had nothing to do with their decision to keep Huawei from attending the event but was merely brought about by “different marketing strategies.”
Huawei is one of the Chinese companies named in an intelligence committee report that “failed to assuage the committee’s significant security concerns presented by their continued expansion into the US … In fact, given their obstructionist behavior, the committee believes addressing these concerns have become an imperative for the country.”
Huawei has been making efforts to improve their image in the US market and invited CBS News 60 Minutes last summer to its headquarters in Shenzen, China to speak with their US spokesperson, Bill Plummer.
[via ZDNet]