Huawei Bringing Dual-Boot Windows & Android Phone to US

Just a week after news that Microsoft had made arrangements to bring dual-boot Windows and Android handsets to customers in India, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has informally announced its intention to do the same for customers here in the United States. In an interview on TrustedReviews, Huawei’s Chief Marketing Officer Shao Yang explained that the company plans to bring dual-boot handsets to the US this spring.

According to Yang, the company believes there is a market for people curious about Microsoft’s mobile operating system, but who are afraid to stray too far from the comforts of Android.

Said Yang:

“Compared with Android, the priority of Windows Phone is much lower but is still one of our choices of OS. We are definitely using a multi OS strategy. With Windows Phone, one direction for us—and one that we are now following—is dual OS. Dual OS as in Android and Windows together.

If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone. If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone.

We think the dual OS can be a new choice for the consumer. It will be on sale in the US in Q2.”

Want other details? Too bad. We won’t know anything else about the specs, price, or carriers until Huawei decides to formally announce it. Even still, I have to admit that my curiosity is piqued. Yang may not be too far off the mark in terms of his assessment as to why consumers haven’t given the Windows Phone OS a try.

It’s not like there’s any kind of widespread understanding as to the platform’s strengths or weaknesses. In fact, the main argument against it is that it simply isn’t Android or iOS, which both have huge libraries of apps and come baked into desirable devices.

If I hadn’t grabbed a Nexus 5 just under two months ago, I’d be seriously considering dropping some money to give Huawei’s dual-boot monstrosity a try when it actually shows up on store shelves. That said, there’s still something that scares me about a phone with two incompatible yet coexisting operating systems. I’m looking forward to reading the reviews—maybe there’s a future for dual-boot, and Huawei’s the company to usher it in…

[Source: TrustedReviews via The Verge]