Huawei, Qihoo confirm end of smartphone deal

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd confirmed the suspension of an agreement with Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd, saying Huawei will not supply a customized smartphone to Qihoo but will launch the model alone.

Huawei Chairman Yu Chengdong said on his micro blog on Wednesday that Huawei could not meet the demands of Qihoo CEO Zhou Hongyi to lower the phone’s price while maintaining its high quality.

“The Huawei Ascend G500 Pro will hit the market on September 6, marketed solely by Huawei. The smartphone will not be a customized Qihoo 360 handset,” Yu said in his microblog.

In May, Yu had said that Huawei Terminal would cooperate with Qihoo to offer a smartphone, preinstalling Qihoo’s software at an entry-level price of 1,499 yuan ($236). Both Yu and Zhou aimed to strike a competitive blow to Xiaomi Corp, famous for selling premium smartphones at low prices.

The Huawei device was scheduled to go on sale in August, but the launch date was postponed.

In a micro blog post on Thursday afternoon, Qihoo’s Zhou said he still is looking for cooperation opportunities with Huawei in the future, but hoped Huawei would reduces its smartphone prices.