When Huawei launched the P9 and P9 Plus much of the focus was on the devices' Leica-branded dual-cameras. However, there was some confusion around the question how much input the German camera maker actually had given to the development of the P9 camera. Initial information seemed to suggest the camera module had only been certified by Leica but the company had not been actively involved in its development.

As it turns out, this is incorrect and the P9 camera is indeed co-engineered with Leica. To clarify this Huawei has today issued the following statement:  

“The P9 and P9 Plus were co-engineered between Huawei and Leica. This is the first collaboration between the two companies following a long-term partnership that was announced in February. From the very beginning, Leica has been deeply involved in the development of these devices. There has been significant technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica around many aspects of the camera, including optical design, imaging quality, image data processing, optimization, and the mechanical construction of the camera module to the graphic user interface. The devices meet Leica’s highest imaging quality standards.”

As we learned recently the camera module is produced by a Chinese company called Sunny Optical but it seems Leica's involvement in design and engineering has been much more significant than initially assumed and the collaboration goes far beyond marketing. We are still hoping to get our hands on a review unit soon to find out how the Leica engineering translates into real-life performance.