Huawei's First US Carrier Phone Could Contend With Samsung, Apple

Huawei's first smartphone released with a US-based mobile carrier is tipped to be coming in the year 2018. This device has not been named, nor priced or specifically dated. What we do know is that the brand has been waiting to gain foothold in the country for quite some time. It's not been an easy road since being accused of being used by China to spy on the United States and its citizens.

Back in October of 2013, Huawei suggested that it'd take 10 years to convince the USA that they don't pose a threat. Back then it was also ZTE under scrutiny by US lawmakers who suggested the two "could undermine national security." Now both are back in action, effectively.

This July, AT&T released the ZTE Blade Spark. Now here in August, they're reported to be preparing to release Huawei's first ever USA-based carrier-carried smartphone. This tip came from people familiar with the matter speaking with The Information, then further confirmed by Android Police.

Huawei recently made headlines saying they'd no longer be making any very low-end smartphones – so we can count out that segment for this AT&T device. Instead I'd put my money on a device not unlike the Honor 9 – Honor being a sub-brand of the Huawei's larger brand, but it's the device's look, feel, and quality I'm suggesting here.

It would also be downright expected to find that Huawei releases the next generation of their Huawei Mate series in the United States. They already offered up the Huawei Mate 9 (international edition) on Amazon for citizens of the USA. That device was able to work with an AT&T SIM card right out the gate – or T-Mobile USA, if you wished.

One phone I would be genuinely disturbed to find launched with AT&T would be the Huawei KFC Chicken Phone revealed last month. Therein lies the convergence of a brand-happy nightmare, the sort of device only an at least slightly dystopian mind could have conjured. On the other hand, if they kept the look, the feel, and the quality, and stripped the brand to bring the Huawei 7 Plus (a newer version, of course) to the USA, that'd be truly decent.

Any way you slice it, Huawei makes high-quality Android-based smartphones for prices that are significantly lower than some of their biggest competitors. Without considering the software, there's a decent chance someone looking at a smartphone for the first time will see a Huawei phone as a better deal than an iPhone or a Galaxy S. Not that they'll necessarily conclude that after extensive research – but if Huawei actually does team up with AT&T, their foot is certainly in the door.