Huawei sales: Telstra says smartphones out of stock
As the prices of Huawei smartphones plummet in Australia, Telstra has stopped selling the Chinese telco’s phones online.
UPDATE: Following this story, and after almost a week without selling the phones, Telstra restocked its online store with the Huawei P30 Pro handsets. It’s understood stock may not arrive until Thursday.
Exclusive: Australia’s biggest telco has quietly stopped selling Huawei smartphones online in a move that could significantly dent sales for the controversial Chinese tech giant.
Telstra is the first of the big three Aussie phone carriers to seemingly move away from Huawei following its ban from doing business in the United States, which could cripple its future products.
But even though Huawei’s flagship smartphones have been unavailable on Telstra’s website for close to a week, a Telstra spokesman blamed a lack of stock.
The disappearance of Huawei phones came despite assurances from the company’s Australian arm that existing devices would not be affected by the new laws and following attempts to give the brand a local Australian flavour, including recruiting popular reality TV host and sometime contestant Sophie Monk.
But experts warn Australian phone companies could distance themselves from the company as the prices of Huawei smartphones plummet in Australia, with even its new flagship phone selling for a fraction of the original cost.
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A Telstra spokesman said the company was “in ongoing contact with Google and Huawei and are working with them to ensure no impact or disruption to our customers”.
He said customers could still find the smartphone in selected retail stores.
But the only two Huawei smartphones sold on Telstra’s website — both Huawei P30 Pro models released last month — have been shown as “out of stock” and unavailable for purchase since last week.
A Telstra sales rep told News Corp the company was no longer selling the smartphones while the US ban on Huawei’s trade was under discussion.
The smartphones were still listed for sale with Optus and Vodafone, however.
But Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said Australian carriers were likely to remove Huawei phones from their catalogues if the US ban was implemented.
“Other carriers around the world have suspended sales of Huawei handsets,” Mr Fadaghi said.
“The carriers are thinking ahead to the challenges that consumers will have when support is withdrawn in 90 days. Consumers are getting a little bit nervous.”
The US ban on Huawei trade in the country, which was instituted over national security concerns, will prevent the phone maker from doing business with companies including Google that delivers its phone software, Intel that provides its processors, and Microsoft that delivers software for the company’s laptops.
The US ban was announced earlier this month but its implementation was delayed by 90 days while negotiations continued between the US and China.
After the announcement, Huawei Australia corporate affairs director Jeremy Mitchell sought to assure Australian customers that “US actions involving Google will not impact consumers with a Huawei smartphone or tablet or those that are planning to buy a Huawei device in the near future”.
If the US ban is implemented later this year, however, it’s likely to prevent major Google Android updates to existing Huawei smartphones, and could seriously hamper the release of future Huawei phones, which may not be able to access Google apps such as Gmail and Maps, or even its app store.
The developments have already seen the value of Huawei smartphones nosedive on Australia’s second-hand phone markets.
Phone buying firm Mobile Monster is currently offering just $400 for a Huawei P30 Pro in “brand new” condition — a 75 per cent drop from its $1599 launch price last month.
Rival firm FoneBank is offering even less — just $340 — or 21 per cent of its sale price last month.
Before the fresh controversy, Huawei sales were climbing in Australia, as it claimed almost six per cent of all Australian smartphone sales in the first three months of the year, according to Kantar Worldpanel, and almost 10 per cent of smartphone sales over $900.
