Phones made by the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei are plummeting in popularity, according to a couple of Richmond phone retailers and repair stores.
Canada announced last week that it’s banning Huawei from helping develop Canada’s fifth-generation (5G) networks to protect national security.
Although the federal government hasn’t banned the sale of Huawei phones in Canada, local retailers and repair stores told the Richmond News that consumers are turning away from the product.
The head office of Wirelesswave told the News in an email that all their storefronts stopped offering Huawei’s products a while ago (before the federal government’s ban).
Meanwhile, staff from Mobile DNA at Lansdowne Centre said their store still has some Huawei phones on shelves, but customers aren’t buying them.
However, the staff person said he didn’t think the shifting consumer preference had much to do with the recent federal ban.
“It’s more about certain apps that aren’t available on Huawei phones, such as Google,” said the staff.
Multiple reports show that Huawei reported $20.63 billion in revenue for the first quarter this year, which is down by nearly 14 per cent from the same period last year.
Ken Hu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, said in a media statement that they expect to face a challenging and complicated business environment in 2022.
Phone repair companies are also seeing the move away from Huawei.
A repairman from Cell Phone Repair Richmond said he’s seen a similar trend.
“The good news is we still have some Huawei phone parts left at the store for repair. So, if you’re lucky, we might help you fix your Huawei phone,” he laughed. “But not many people carry this type of phone around nowadays.”
