China's Huawei to expand in US smartphone market next year

BEIJING (AP) - Chinese smartphone brand Huawei will start U.S. sales through carriers next year, an executive of the company said Monday, dramatically increasing the No. 3 global handset seller's presence in the home market of rival Apple Inc.

The president of Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s consumer business, Richard Yu, said he would announce details at next month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He said sales would start with the company's flagship Mate 10 model but declined to give a price or say through which carrier or carriers the first sales would be made.

Huawei sells some models in U.S. electronics stores but has a minimal share of an American market in which most sales are through carriers.

Globally, the company trails Samsung and Apple by handset shipments sold but leads in China, the biggest market by number of phones sold. It says it expects to ship 150 million units this year.

"We will sell our flagship phone, our product, in the U.S. market through carriers next year," said Yu in an interview. "I think that we can bring value to the carriers and to consumers. Better product, better innovation, better user experience."

Yu expressed confidence smartphone sales won't be affected by American government concerns Huawei might be a security threat, which derailed U.S. demand for the company's network gear.

"In consumer sales, when people really start using Huawei products, they will change their minds," said Yu.