Huawei‘s CEO might have called it quits in the US market, but the Chinese company isn’t slowing down just yet. In fact, it has just applied for a trademark at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a rather funny-sounding PhoPad name.
Last week, Huawei’s top honcho publicly expressed his frustration at being caught in the middle of the squabble between the US and China. Several US officials have pointed out how Huawei could be easily used as a tool for spying by the Chinese government and have encouraged others to shun the company. While CEO Ren Zhengfei did say it wasn’t worth being involved in the issue, the company has yet to reveal a timeline for their departure. In the meantime, it seems that Huawei will continue to try to fill the US market with its mobile devices.
What the PhoPad truly is remains a mystery. There is speculation that it stands for a phone the size of a pad or tablet. In other words, a phablet. Huawei would hardly be the only one trying to push another name for the growing device form factor. Samsung has also been reported to be vying for an even sillier “fonblet” moniker. And Huawei is definitely no stranger to the device class. Both its current Ascend Mate and the Ascend Mate 2 clock at 6.1 inches. It is still unknown whether the PhoPad will simply be another bigger smartphone or if it will be taking on ASUS‘ budget FonePad line or even the curious PadFone phone/tablet hybrid.
Whatever the Huawei PhoPad really is, it’s likely we’ll get a peek early 2014. Huawei is slotted to still make an appearance at CES next month where we’ll probably get to see this PhoPad alongside other rumored smartphones such as the Ascend Mate 2 and the octa-core Glory/Honor 4 or G750.
How about the “SoupPad”? Pho=Soup 😀