iPhone 12 is "world's best smartphone" says the CEO of Huawei!

(Image credit: Apple)

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, love is clearly in the air for Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, who has just confirmed that he believes that the Apple iPhone 12 is the "best smartphone in the world".

At an event in Taiyuan, the CEO of Huawei discussed the future of Huawei and its smartphone division. Despite Apple also manufacturing camera phones, Ren doesn't hide his appreciation for the company.

• Read more: Best camera phone

At a round table media meeting in Taiyuan, Huawei discussed some of the issues surrounding the US trade blockade. The Trump administration placed Huawei on an entity list that blocks it from having business dealings with US organizations. This prevents the company from using hardware, software and services from the US.

So far, it seems that the Biden administration is likely to uphold the restrictions as well. Ren said, “I will not say it is impossible, but it is extremely difficult, so basically, we do not have that expectation,” he said. “We just want to work hard, and we have plenty of money and can hire a lot of scientists.”

Since the blockade, Huawei has seen a significant drop in production. It was previously estimated that Huawei would take the number two spot behind Apple, but it's now dropped to seventh place since the sanctions.

Despite this drop in production, Huawei remains optimistic, with Ren saying “My confidence grows in Huawei’s ability to survive ... We have great confidence in our customers.”

Interestingly, it seems Huawei may no longer compete with flagship camera phones as Ren says, “high-end customers in Europe love Apple. Since [Huawei] doesn’t have premium handsets any more, Apple’s phones have helped us prove that Huawei’s 5G technology is the best.” Ren continued by saying that the iPhone 12 is “the world’s best smartphone.”

• Best iPhone for photography

It seems Huawei are focusing their energies on developing 5G technologies for consumer and industrial applications. Huawei has also started working on smart vehicles and doubling its efforts for cloud services.

While the US trade sanctions may have put Huawei's flagship camera phone aspirations on hold, the company seems to have a number of different opportunities to develop and explore in the future.

Usman is a commercial and architectural photographer based in West Yorkshire, who has been working professionally for over seven years. He has also spent over four years as a writer for the biggest photography sites in the world, including Staff Writer for Digital Camera World, senior staff writer for FStoppers, and tech writer for Petapixel.

With a particular interest in technology developments, high-resolution imaging and the high-end cameras, Usman has been on the cutting edge of camera news as well as writing features about medium format systems and global shutters, and has reviewed some of the latest Leica cameras as well as a tripod that’s even taller than Andre the Giant!

Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter