Leica is looking for a new smartphone partner, eyeing Xiaomi and Honor [Updated]

According to inside sources, the Huawei-Leica partnership is coming to an end, with the P50 series being the last handsets from the company carrying the Leica branding. The information comes from a series of tweets posted by a fairly renowned tipster focusing on Huawei intel.

He also suggests that Leica is looking for a new smartphone OEM partner and Xiaomi, Honor and Sharp are likely candidates. And why not all of them? A non-exclusive deal is quite possible, the Nokia-Zeiss and Sony-Zeiss partnerships are just one example.

It's sad to see this partnership go as Huawei and Leica have produced some great camera phones over the years, but perhaps the trade sanctions imposed on Huawei haven taken a toll on the relationship.

Update: Leica has reached out with an official statement regarding this rumor.

The trustful and long-term technology partnership with the Huawei Consumer Business Group exists since 2015. Since the beginning the partnership brings huge value to consumers as well as to both companies. As the cooperation still continues, the associated compliance with all confidentialities is of course preserved. The partners have agreed to secrecy about any details of the contract. Please understand that we will not be commenting on this

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