Huawei reportedly considering Nokia acquisition

According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Huawei is considering buying Finnish smartphone manufacturer Nokia. Richard Yu, Huawei’s consumer business group chairman explained at the company’s Ascend P6 launch event that Huawei is looking into the acquisition, but how far negotiations go would depend on the willingness of Nokia. “We are considering these sorts of acquisitions; maybe the combination has some synergies but depends on the willingness of Nokia. We are open-minded,” Yu stated.

Huawei is not a household name here in the United States when it comes to smartphones, most likely due to the company’s shaky relationship with the U.S. government, but Yu says the company is certainly looking to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple, and having Nokia behind it would definitely be helpful. 

Huawei is huge in China, however, and is the third in terms of smartphone shipments behind Samsung and Apple, but Yu says that is not good enough. “Twenty years ago, we were nothing but now we have the best quality [phones] and our customers say we are the best,” he explained. “We want to shorten the gap with competitors. We want to lead.

It sounds like Huawei has not had any serious talks with Nokia, though. If the company does end up purchasing Nokia, than it likely wouldn’t happen for quite a while. Nokia has, however, been the center of acquisition rumors before with the company reportedly shopping for a buyer.