Leica, Huawei Release Joint Statement on “Co-Engineering” of Huawei P9

Earlier this week, it was reported by us, plus a handful of other online publications, that Leica’s actual involvement in co-engineering the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus was somewhat misrepresented to potential consumers. Shortly after that story was published, Huawei released an in-depth statement, refuting any idea that Leica was not heavily involved in the development (aka “co-engineering”) process. Now, Leica and Huawei have released a much larger joint statement, detailing everything that Leica did during the process. 

In this statement, Leica explains that the camera module inside of the P9 series, and the “achievable picture quality,” is the result of the intensive technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica. Furthermore, the company’s joint objective was to achieve the “best possible image results and optical imaging performance,” in order to provide consumers with the best possible picture quality.

As you read the statement, a clear picture is drawn that Leica and Huawei did in fact work on the modules together. Detailing this information from the beginning could have mitigated this situation entirely.

Read Huawei and Leica’s full statement below.

Leica and Huawei co-engineered P9 camera module

[Düsseldorf, Germany, Düsseldorf – 21 April 2016] – In February, Huawei and Leica announced a long-term strategic partnership. The camera function is the most used smartphone application and our aim is to bring it up to the high standards demanded by the Leica product philosophy. Leica brings to the cooperation their expertise gathered from decades of experience in optical engineering and optical design.

The collaboration between Huawei and Leica aims to deliver the best possible picture quality in the smartphone segment. Both companies have been working closely to co-engineer Huawei’s recently launched premium smartphone – the P9 – based on innovation and excellent craftsmanship.

The camera module of the P9 series and the achievable picture quality is the result of the intensive technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica. Leica has been deeply involved in the development of the camera-module of the P9 and P9 Plus. Our joint objective was to achieve the best possible image results and optical imaging performance in order to provide consumers in the smartphone photography segment with the best possible picture quality. The result raises smartphone photography to an entirely new level.

Our co-engineering is deeply embedded in the product and Leica’s contribution has involved:

• Collaborative development, evaluation and optimization of optical design (lens calculation) in compliance with Leica standards.
• Collaborative development of the mechanical construction of the camera module to reduce stray light effects (“ghost and flare”).
• Definition of imaging quality in terms of color rendition/color fidelity, white balance, stray light reduction (“ghost & flare effects”), exposure precision, dynamic range, sharpness and noise characteristics.
• Processing of image data with the aid of long-standing Leica optical and signal processing expertise
• Definition of the most stringent common quality standards and production requirements for serial production by Huawei to ensure consistently high quality.

Leica’s globally recognized expertise is based to a large extent on the ability to guarantee the narrowest tolerances on the market. This justifiable claim to excellence is naturally also an integral component of the technology partnership and is implemented in Huawei’s production processes of the P9 camera module to ensure uncompromising quality.