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Huawei is making another Nexus phone

Published Jun 3rd, 2016 12:54PM EDT
2016 Google Nexus Huawei Daydream
Image: Google

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Android fans are eagerly waiting for Android N to come out, as that means new Nexus hardware is due. Multiple reports said this year that HTC will build no less than two devices for Google, with some rumors even claiming that the Taiwanese smartphone maker has scored some sort of Nexus exclusivity deal for the coming years. That doesn’t seem to be the case, as Huawei just seemed to confirm that it’s working on at least one more Nexus-branded device after last year’s Nexus 6P.

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A Huawei exec for South Africa confirmed the detail in an interview with Gearbeast. While discussing last year’s Nexus 6p, the news slipped out. It’s not quite a confirmed detail (although we have reached out to Huawei for comment), but it’s doubtful that an exec would say that in an interview unless plans were reasonably settled.

“The Nexus product is a very niche product… the techies love it, but there’s a very small number of people that buy it. Hence, Cellucity only brought 300… into the country,” Huawei’s general manager for the Consumer Business Group in South Africa Charlene Munilall explained to GearBurn when asked why the Nexus 6p was not launched in the region.

“The operators generally don’t take up the Nexus device,” she continued, seemingly confirming what we already knew, that Google and wireless carriers don’t really play along.

“That said, the distributors, our open market, do bring in the device, that’s how Cellucity got it… and that will still be the same this year. We’re doing the Nexus again this year, by the way,” she said.

That’s definitely a surprising comment to make, especially since Google has not announced any new Nexus hardware yet. However, a few days ago Google’s Sundar Pichai said in an interview that Google will continue to release Nexus devices. The software giant will not manufacture its hardware, but Google plans to be more involved with Nexus device. Pichai also said that future Nexus devices may not run stock Android, but rather Google would focus on building in more software tweaks to Nexus devices.

In a different interview, Huawei director Richard Yu told The Wall Street Journal that Huawei will offer customers a Daydream-ready phone by the end of the year. Daydream is Google’s recently announced Android VR platform. It’s not clear at this point whether the upcoming Nexus handset from Huawei will have Daydream capabilities.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.