Huawei P9’s dual rear cameras were not made by Leica (UPDATED)

Huawei unveiled just this month its latest flagship smartphone, the Huawei P9, which boasts Leica-branded dual rear cameras. But as it turns out, it was not actually made by the German optics company.

UPDATE (04/21/2016): Huawei has issued an official statement clarifying their collaboration with Leica for the P9 and P9 Plus smartphones. See below:

“The P9 and P9 Plus were co-engineered between Huawei and Leica. This is the first collaboration between the two companies following a long-term partnership that was announced in February. From the very beginning, Leica has been deeply involved in the development of these devices. There has been significant technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica around many aspects of the camera, including optical design, imaging quality, image data processing, optimization, and the mechanical construction of the camera module to the graphic user interface. The devices meet Leica’s highest imaging quality standards.”

Based on the statement above, Leica’s involvement in the development of the Huawei P9 is not limited to software and branding but includes design, quality, optimization, and construction, to name a few.

Original story below published April 20, 2016.

Huawei is tagging the P9, as well as the P9 Plus, as a smartphone co-engineered with Leica, but according to a report from MyDrivers, those cameras were made by Sunny Optical Technology – a company based in China that specializes in camera modules, including array cameras like the one pictured below.

Ubergizmo also said that the P9’s camera module “had simply been certified by Leica, and that the German camera maker had no hand in developing or producing the camera or its optics.” However, Huawei did mention in their website that Leica co-engineered the P9’s Picture Quality Algorithm.

If that’s the case, then we can say that Leica’s participation in the development of the Huawei P9 is mostly on the software side and premium branding.

source: MyDrivers, Ubergizmo, Huawei, Sunny Optical
via: Android Authority